CSNA3 Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional - CSN

Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional – CSN (CSNA3 shares) is one of Brazil’s largest and most diversified industrial groups, with integrated operations in steel, mining, cement, logistics and energy. Founded in 1941 by presidential decree of Getúlio Vargas, it began operations in 1946 with the inauguration of the Presidente Vargas Plant (UPV) in Volta Redonda (RJ), the country’s first integrated flat steel mill. From the outset, the company incorporated strategic mineral assets such as the Casa de Pedra mine and the Arcos mine, both in Minas Gerais, which ensured self-sufficiency in iron ore, limestone and dolomite. Since then, CSN has gone through a process of expansion and consolidation, including its privatization between 1993 and 1994, when the Brazilian government sold 91% of its stake, and a broad investment cycle aimed at increasing capacity, improving product quality and strengthening environmental programs.

CSN’s business model is strongly based on vertical integration along the steel value chain, from iron ore extraction to the production and commercialization of a wide range of higher value-added steel products. The company organizes its operations into five main segments: steel, mining, cement, logistics and energy. This structure allows the iron ore produced at its mines to supply its own steelmaking operations, while byproducts such as slag are used in cement production. In addition, CSN uses its logistics base – which includes port terminals and stakes in railways – to optimize the transport of inputs and products, reducing costs and increasing the competitiveness of its industrial operations. The company’s shares are traded on B3, and it also owns listed subsidiaries such as CSN Mineração, whose shares began trading on the Brazilian exchange after its IPO in 2021.

In mining, CSN operates mainly through CSN Mineração, which encompasses the Casa de Pedra and Engenho mines, the Pires beneficiation complex and the TECAR port terminal at the Port of Itaguaí (RJ). Casa de Pedra is an open-pit mine in Congonhas (MG) with high-quality iron ore that supplies both the UPV and the foreign market. Engenho, also an open-pit mine, has its output processed at Pires and Casa de Pedra. In 2024, the Pires beneficiation plant produced 4.85 million tonnes of iron ore, reaching 9.39 million tonnes when including mobile screening units. CSN Mineração sold 42.6 million tonnes of iron ore in 2024, with a strong focus on exports to Asia, especially China, and a significant part of this volume is handled through TECAR, which is responsible for shipping around 96% of the ore destined for the transoceanic market, as well as unloading coal, coke and other reductants for group consumption.

Steelmaking remains CSN’s historical industrial core. The Presidente Vargas Plant in Volta Redonda is the company’s main facility, with installed capacity of 5.4 million tonnes of crude steel per year, including 5.2 million tonnes of flat steel and 0.4 million tonnes of long steel. The plant integrates the entire flow, from coke oven batteries to hot and cold rolling lines, galvanizing, pre-painting and the production of tin mill products for packaging. In 2024, CSN produced 3.3 million tonnes of crude steel, of which 3.1 million tonnes were flat steel and 0.21 million tonnes were long steel, and 3.7 million tonnes of rolled products. The company offers hot-rolled and cold-rolled, galvanized, galvannealed, 55% Al-Zn alloy coated steels, as well as pre-painted steels, serving especially the automotive, construction, white goods, capital goods (OEM) and metal packaging segments. The packaging area is supported by Companhia Metalúrgica Prada and Metalgráfica Iguaçu, which produce steel packaging for food for both the domestic and international markets.

In addition to the UPV, CSN operates specialized industrial units. The Porto Real (RJ) branch has a hot-dip galvanizing line, a service center and a laser welding center for tailor-welded blanks, with a strong focus on the automotive sector, producing up to 350 thousand tonnes per year of galvanized products and 354 thousand tonnes of blanks and sheets. The Araucária (PR) branch combines pickling, cold rolling, galvanizing, pre-painting and cutting services, with annual capacity of 295 thousand tonnes of coated products and 131 thousand tonnes of pre-painted products, widely used in construction and in household appliances. Abroad, CSN controls Lusosider Aços Planos in Portugal, which operates in pickling, cold rolling and galvanizing of flat steels, and Stahlwerk Thüringen (SWT) in Germany, specialized in long steel profiles with annual capacity of 1.1 million tonnes. This international presence complements the production base and expands the commercial reach of the group’s products.

CSN has also developed a significant cement arm, leveraging complementarities with steelmaking. Since 2009, when it installed its first cement mill at the UPV to use blast furnace slag, the company has expanded this business with new mills inaugurated in 2015 and a kiln line in Arcos (MG) in 2016, reaching aggregate capacity of 4.7 million tonnes of cement per year at its own plants and independence in clinker production. In 2021, it consolidated its position in the sector with the acquisitions of Elizabeth Cimentos and Elizabeth Mineração in the Northeast, and LafargeHolcim (Brasil) S.A., becoming the second-largest cement producer in the country, with installed capacity of 17 million tonnes per year. Another subsidiary, Minérios Nacional, holds additional mineral assets, including the Fernandinho mine and more than 600 mineral rights under exploration, also focused on limestone and clay for cement.

Logistics is treated as a strategic pillar at CSN, as it is essential for integrating mining, steelmaking and cement. The company operates TECAR, a dry bulk terminal at the Port of Itaguaí, with loading capacity of 45 million tonnes per year of iron ore and unloading capacity of 3 million tonnes per year of reductants, under a lease agreement valid until 2047, subject to new investments. It also has stakes in major railways: it shares control of MRS Logística, which operates on the Rio de Janeiro–São Paulo–Belo Horizonte axis; it participates in the Transnordestina Logística (TLSA) joint venture, the concessionaire of the Sistema Ferroviário do Nordeste II; and it controls FTL – Ferrovia Transnordestina Logística, responsible for the Nordeste I System. In 2025, the acquisition of 70% of Estrela Comércio e Participações, the holding company of Grupo Tora, expanded its capacity in intermodal transport and distribution, especially in road and rail freight, strengthening its vertical integration strategy.

In the energy segment, CSN has moved toward self-sufficiency to reduce costs and supply risks. In 2022, it acquired Santa Ana Energética, Topázio Energética, Companhia Energética Chapecó (CEC) and Companhia Estadual de Geração de Energia Elétrica (CEEE-G), bringing together concessions for hydroelectric plants and greenfield wind projects. In 2023, after integrating these acquisitions, CSN achieved energy self-sufficiency, capturing the benefits of self-generation, such as a significant reduction in energy costs across all segments and partial exemption from sector charges and applicable taxes. The company also engages in thermal cogeneration from process gases in its steel operations, using byproducts as a fuel source. This proprietary energy base supports its energy-intensive industrial operations and is another component of the group’s integration.

CSN also maintains related operations in tin mining through Estanho de Rondônia S.A. (ERSA), which combines Mineração Santa Bárbara and a smelter in Rondônia. ERSA produces tin of market-grade specification, with low lead content, used internally by CSN in the production of tinplate at the UPV, in addition to producing COLTAN (niobium and tantalum concentrate). In 2024, tin output was 355 tonnes and COLTAN output was 140 tonnes. On the commercial side, the company has significant exposure to the foreign market, especially through iron ore, and serves global clients. In 2024 and 2023, GLENCORE INTERNATIONAL AG individually accounted for more than 10% of CSN’s net revenue, underscoring the importance of major international trading companies and steelmakers in its client base. With this combination of mining, steel, cement, logistics and energy, CSN is positioned as an integrated industrial group, with shares traded on B3 and a significant presence across various links in the basic materials and infrastructure value chain.