Metalurgica Gerdau S.A. is a Brazilian conglomerate that has been involved in the production and sale of steel products around the world since 1901. As of May 2019, according to Forbes they had a market cap of USD$1.8 billion with operations in Brazil and throughout North and South America. Also holding a 40 percent stake in Spanish company Sidenor, which operates in the same market across Europe, revenue in 2018 was USD$11.6 billion.
Founded by German immigrant Johannes Heinrich Kaspar Gerdau, otherwise known as João Gerdau, he left Hamburg for Brazil in 1869 and established himself as an investor in trade, transport and land, before buying the Pontas de Paris Nail Factory in Porto Alegre in 1901. His eldest son Hugo eventually took over the business, but it wasn’t until his daughter Helda married fellow German Curt Johannpeter and he took it over that the company’s most aggressive period of expansion began. Its’ core business remains transforming scrap steel and iron ore into steel products with partnerships in civil engineering, automotive, agricultural and other manufacturing industries. At last count it had approximately 30,000 employees in 10 different countries and owns steel mills and downstream processing facilities around the world, with a focus on Latin America.
- Family name: Gerdau Johannpeter family
- Sector: Mining & Metals
- Founded: 1901
- Founder: Johannes Heinrich Kaspar Gerdau
- Country: Brazil
- Company headquarters: São Paulo, Brazil
- Revenue: 11
- Employees: 40,000
- Website: gerdau.com.br
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