Issue 44 - Year 03 Read breaking news about the Gerdau Group in the world. Enjoy! Highlights» Gerdau Group receives Top of HR ADVB 2006 award» Gerdau supports the biggest educational project in Brazil» Gerdau AZA steel is in the tallest tower in South America» Gerdau Ameristeel Manitoba celebrates 100 years» Gerdau Steel is part of Petrobras' platforms» Gerdau supplies products for the sugar/alcohol sector» Gerdau Ameristeel Jackson invests in recycling» Gerdau stimulates the competitiveness of micro and small companies in Brazil» Inclusion of people with special needs in the workplace is encouraged by Gerdau Cosigua» The Gerdau Group and the Victor Civita Foundation work in partnership on behalf of education Gerdau Group receives Top of HR ADVB 2006 award Top of HR of ADVB 2006 recognized the Gerdau Professional's Pro-Infancy Fund as the best initiative in the human resources area in Brazil. The initiative seeks to make the community aware of the need for donations of resources to assist children and teenagers, as well as for educational bodies focused on them. The 14th edition of Top of HR received around 70 entries and recognized the work of eleven companies. Contributions to the Fund are made by means of income tax deductions, in accordance with the federal Funcriança law. Individuals can donate up to 6% of taxes due and companies up to 1%. One of the project differentials is that each donating company or individual can choose the entity that benefits from its donation, provided the benefited entity's activities are approved by municipal, state or federal councils of the Rights of Children and Teenagers. To date, the fund has benefited 123 social institutions that look after 22,375 children and teenagers in Brazil. In 2005, the project received resources amounting to R$ 4.6 million. Since 1999, when the Gerdau Group incorporated undertook the program, the company and its employees have already donated R$ 14.3 million to the Fund. Gerdau Group employees commemorate the award
Gerdau supports the biggest educational project in Brazil By 2022, the bicentennial of Brazil's independence, 98% of children and teenagers between the ages of four and seventeen will attend school. This is one of the challenges of the All for Education initiative, launched in Sao Paulo, with the support of the Gerdau Group, through the Gerdau Institute, and other companies. Apart from increasing school attendance, the project also aims to achieve other educational targets by September 2022, including teaching all children by the age of eight to read and write; having 60% of students enrolled in the appropriate grade for their age; conclusion of high school education for 70% of young people by the age of 19; conclusion of high school education for 80% of young people by the age of 16; and increasing investment in education from 3% to 5% of GDP. Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter, Gerdau Group President, is one of the leaders in the All for Education movement Gerdau AZA steel is in the tallest tower in South America Steel produced by Gerdau AZA can be found in one of the largest Chilean undertakings: the Costanera Center complex located in Santiago. The project includes the construction of a shopping mall with more than 200 commercial units, two supermarkets, two hotels, 14 cinema screens, five underground parking lots and four towers. One of the towers, with 57 floors and about 250 meters high, will be the tallest in Latin America. In all, 40,000 tons of transfer bars were sold for the project. The Costanera Center represents an investment of USD $400 million and will comprise an area of around 600,000 square meters. The project is due to be completed by the second half of 2009. Construction of one of the biggest undertakings in Chile includes Gerdau steel
Gerdau Ameristeel Manitoba celebrates 100 years Gerdau Ameristeel Manitoba, based in Canada, celebrated its centenary in September. During this time, the plant has diversified its product mix and increased its production. Today, the unit produces flat, round and square bars. Gerdau Steel is part of Petrobras' platforms Gerdau Group participated in the main Latin American oil and gas event with the Gerdau Açominas Profile line present in the structure of ten Petrobras oil platforms in Brazil. Up until now, about 10,000 tons of Gerdau Açominas Profiles have already been supplied for the undertakings. Rio Oil & Gas took place in September in Rio de Janeiro. The event brought together exhibitors from 21 countries and was visited by more than 30,000 people. Gerdau Açominas Profile line is highlighted in Rio Oil & Gas Gerdau supplies products for the sugar/alcohol sector The Brazilian sugar and alcohol sector is going through one of the best phases in its history. There are currently 89 projects for new plants and for the reactivation of existing factories, according to the Sao Paulo Cane Plantation Agro Industry Union. For this market, the Gerdau Group offers products, including bars, profiles and brackets, which form part of the structure of a good number of the region's alcohol and sugar plants under construction or modernization. Gerdau Group stand at the XIV Fenasucro presents products used in the sugar/alcohol sector The complete line of Gerdau solders also make up part of this market, such as Electrodes and Wire Mig, presented during the XIV sugar/alcohol Industry International Fair (Fenasucro) in Sertãozinho (in the state of Sao Paulo).
Gerdau Ameristeel Jackson invests in recycling The Gerdau Ameristeel Jackson steel mill, in Tenesse (USA), invested USD $20 million in the installation of new processing equipment for scrap, the principal raw material of steel production. With the new machines it will be possible to increase scrap-processing quality. Among the new equipment is a machine for processing railroad trucks, with recycling capacity of up to 4,800 units per year. The Mega Shredder, one of the most modern pieces of recycling equipment in the world, begins operations in December, with the capacity to process 25,000 tons of scrap per month. The plant gets ready to receive the Mega Shredder focused on scrap processing Gerdau stimulates the competitiveness of micro and small companies in Brazil Around 45% of workers in Brazil with an employment contract work in micro and small companies, according to the International Labor Organization. To promote the reduction of unemployment and to increase income in the country, the Gerdau Group implemented competitiveness awards that value the best micro and small companies' management cases. In September, the first edition of the Outstanding Business Award, a partnership between the Gerdau Group, Sebrae (Sao Paulo), Sao Paulo Institute of Excellence and Management (Ipeg) and the Federation of Industries of the state of Sao Paulo (Fiesp), was launched in Sao Paulo. In addition to Sao Paulo, another eight Brazilian states also hold the competition. In Minas Gerais state, the winning five micro and small companies of the 11th edition of the Business Excellence Award are already known. This year, the award had 3,916 entries, a 5% increase from the previous edition, which shows that the businessmen are ever more attentive to the importance of quality management in the development of their business. Over the next few months the winners of Rio Grande do Sul state and Santa Catarina state (Entrepreneurial Talent), of Parana state (Business Success), of Rio de Janeiro state (Top Business), of Bahia state (Business Prominence), of Pernambuco state (Business Highlight) and of Ceara state (Business Success), will be known.
Winners of Minas Gerais Excellence Award Inclusion of people with special needs in the workplace is encouraged by Gerdau Cosigua The Gerdau Cosigua steel mill, in Rio de Janeiro, qualified the first class of the course for steel mill process operator, offered exclusively for people with special needs. The objective of the initiative is to meet the increased demand for qualified professionals in the sector due to the growth of steel businesses in the region. In all, 956 class hours were given over the period of one year. The students learned the basics of IT and technology, mechanical drawing interpretation, industrial measurement, among others. Modules on mathematics, the environment, citizenship and ethics were also taught. The initiative has the support of the Industry Social Service (Sesi) and of the National Service for Industrial Training (Senai). In 2007, vacancies for the new edition of the course will be opened. The Gerdau Group and the Victor Civita Foundation work in partnership on behalf of education Since September, Gerdau Group President, Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter, has been part of the curator council of the Victor Civita Foundation, in Brazil. The partnership seeks to increase actions developed in the education field. The body's curator council also includes Roberto Civita, Ruth Cardoso and Claudio de Moura Castro.