Brazil-based steelmaker Gerdau says it has ended its 2018 fiscal year with 46.2 billion Brazilian reals ($12.3 billion) in net revenue, a 25 percent increase compared with the previous fiscal year.
The company says the increase was driven by higher sales volume in the Brazilian domestic market, improved export profitability
By tonnage, steel sales of 14.6 million metric tons for the fiscal year represented a 3 percent decrease compared with the prior year. The company cites the sale of some rebar and wire rod production units in the United States, as well as operations in Chile and India, as reasons for the decline.
“We ended 2018 with the successful completion of Gerdau’s divestment plan - reaching more than $1.87 billion in the last four years,” says CEO Gustavo Werneck. “As a result of the dedication of our teams and the evolution of the market, we have achieved the best results for Gerdau of the last 10 years, and we remunerated the capital invested by our shareholders in higher levels compared to previous years.”
At the same time the divestments were occurring, the company also invested some $320 million in operations, according to Werneck.
Gerdau reports it invested more than half of that amount at facilities in Brazil, followed by investments in North America and then other Latin American countries.