Gerdau celebrated 50 years of special steel operations in the United States on Monday, May 13. Fifty years earlier, Gerdau cast its first special steel billet at its Jackson, Mich., facility, which today is a downstream operation with heat treating, turning, inspecting and cutting operations.
“This is an exciting moment for us,” said Gustavo Werneck, CEO of Gerdau. “As a company that has been in business for 123 years, we are constantly innovating and adapting ourselves in order to meet current and future demands. Our Jackson facility remains a critical part of our special steel operation in the U.S. and our footprint in North America.”
In November, the company’s Fort Smith, Ark. special steel mill will celebrate 40 years in operations.
Gerdau Special Steel North America produces special bar quality steel for the automotive, commercial vehicle, agricultural, construction, distribution and energy markets. The division is headquartered in Jackson and operates steel manufacturing plants in Monroe, Mich., and Fort Smith, with additional finishing and heat treating facilities in Jackson and Huntington, Ind. Gerdau Special Steel is a wholly owned subsidiary of Brazil's Gerdau.
“This important milestone reinforces our commitment to the North American market," said Rodrigo Belloc, president of Gerdau Special Steel North America. “We’ve continuously invested into our operations over these last 50 years.”
Gerdau has been a leader in clean steels technology for the last decade and recently introduced its new brand, Performa Clean Steels. The automotive industry is driving this need for high-strength steel parts with lightweight design, increased fatigue life and better performance. Gerdau’s Performa steels are produced with special chemistry and property controls that minimize inclusions, which are known to reduce fatigue life on parts exposed to continuous stresses, the company claimed.