Gerdau recently celebrated 110 years of existence. The company celebrated with its 45,000 employees, in their respective countries, a successful track record focused on the quality of its products and services and on excellence of its management processes.
Gerdau’s history began in 1901 as a small nail factory in Porto Alegre, Brazil, called Pontas de Paris. Today, the company has industrial operations in 14 countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, with an installed capacity exceeding 25 million metric tons of steel per year. Gerdau is also the largest recycler in Latin America and it transforms millions of tons of scrap into steel around the world every year.
Also, as part of its anniversary celebration, Gerdau is introducing a new brand and visual identity that positions the Company for continued growth. The new logo has undergone a subtle revitalization and become lighter and more modern. In addition, the long steel and special steel operations of Gerdau in North America, Gerdau Ameristeel and Gerdau Macsteel, will now be known as Gerdau.
As part of the global branding efforts, descriptors were developed to differentiate between the parent company and the business operations that will now be called Gerdau. The descriptor for the long steel operations in North America, previously Gerdau Ameristeel, will be Gerdau Long Steel North America. Gerdau Special Steel North America is the descriptor for the company’s special steel operations, previously known as Gerdau Macsteel.
The anniversary and the brand change come at an exciting time for Gerdau, as the company recently announced plans to invest $320 million to expand its special bar quality steel production capacity in North America by 400,000 metric tons through 2014. Also, studies are being conducted to build a new special steel mill with an installed capacity between 700,000 and 800,000 metric tons.
Though the new brand already launched, changes will occur gradually over the next 12 to 18 months. Marketing materials, including road signs, product tags, purchase orders and order confirmations, will be replaced during that time. Among the immediate changes are new website addresses, www.gerdau.com/longsteel, which will replace www.gerdauameristeel.com and www.gerdau.com/specialsteel, which will replace www.gerdaumacsteel.com.