USIM6: quote, dividends and indicators for Usiminas

Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S.A. – Usiminas is a Brazilian steel company founded on April 25, 1956, in Belo Horizonte (MG), in the context of the federal government’s developmentalist policies. Industrial implementation was concentrated in Ipatinga (MG), where on October 26, 1962, the first blast furnace was lit, marking the start of operations with an initial capacity of 500 thousand tons of steel per year. Over the following decades, the company went through successive cycles of expansion, modernization, and restructuring, including increases in production capacity, creation of research and development areas, and expansion of its portfolio of steel products. On October 24, 1991, the company was privatized under the National Privatization Program, and in November of the same year its shares began trading on the stock exchange, currently on B3 under the tickers USIM3 (common shares), USIM5 and USIM6 (preferred shares).

Usiminas’ trajectory includes relevant integration and corporate reorganization moves in the Brazilian steel sector. In the 1990s, the company acquired Companhia Siderúrgica Paulista (Cosipa) in Cubatão (SP), making investments in technological upgrades, environmental remediation, and industrial safety at the São Paulo plant. Between 1998 and 2001, a broad corporate restructuring was carried out, culminating in the concentration of assets and equity interest in Cosipa, the issuance of convertible debentures, and the reorganization that led to Usiminas’ current configuration. In 2005, the company launched a tender offer for the remaining Cosipa shares, turning it into a wholly owned subsidiary and later delisting it. In parallel, Usiminas consolidated strategic partnerships, such as the Unigal Ltda. joint venture with Nippon Steel Corporation for coated steel production, and its stake in Ternium, strengthening its integration with globally active steel groups.

Usiminas’ business model is structured into two major business units: Steel and Mining & Logistics. In steel, the company manufactures and sells flat carbon steel products, serving mainly the automotive, industrial, and distribution segments, as well as exports. In mining, through its subsidiary Mineração Usiminas S.A. (MUSA), it carries out iron ore extraction and processing activities, producing lump ore, sinter feed, and pellet feed, in addition to associated logistics services such as storage, handling, transportation, and operation of road and rail terminals. Integration between mining and steel allows internal supply of ore to the Ipatinga plant and allocation of significant volumes to the external market, especially to the Asian market.

Usiminas’ steel operations are based mainly at the plants in Ipatinga (MG) and Cubatão (SP), responsible for producing flat carbon steel at different processing stages. The Ipatinga plant is an integrated facility that produces heavy plates, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, and coated products, including galvanized products by hot-dip process in partnership with Unigal. The Cubatão plant, in turn, is supplied with slabs and operates hot-rolling and cold-rolling lines. The company also has relevant logistics assets, such as stakes in the Terminal Privativo de Praia Mole (TPPM) in Espírito Santo and in the Terminal Marítimo Privativo de Cubatão (TMPC) in São Paulo, which support the movement of raw materials and finished products. Soluções em Aço Usiminas S.A. complements the value chain by operating in distribution, processing, and manufacturing of small-diameter tubes, offering the processing of coils and plates into blanks, strips, discs, tailor blanks, as well as profiling, cross and slitting cuts, laser welding, and other higher value-added stages.

Usiminas’ product portfolio covers a wide range of technical specifications for different industrial uses. Steel slabs are the primary product, used internally as input for rolling, but they may also occasionally be sold. Heavy plates, resulting from hot rolling of slabs at high temperatures and possibly undergoing controlled rolling processes and heat treatments, serve applications ranging from shipbuilding, infrastructure, and bridges to road machinery and equipment, mining, energy, and offshore platforms. Hot-rolled products, produced in coils with various thicknesses and widths, are used in civil construction, the automotive industry, auto parts, tubes of different diameters, and general industrial applications. Cold-rolled products, obtained from pickled coils subjected to significant thickness reduction and annealing, are directed to sectors such as automotive, home appliances, packaging, small-diameter tubes, and civil construction. Galvanized products, either by hot-dip or electrogalvanizing, provide corrosion protection and are primarily intended for the automotive industry, civil construction (such as roofing, silos, and panels), electronics, and agricultural equipment.

In the Mining & Logistics unit, Mineração Usiminas operates open-pit mines in Minas Gerais, with iron ore extraction, drilling, excavation, crushing, washing, and concentration processes. The combined nominal capacity of the plants is around 12 million tons per year, although effective capacity depends on the availability of tailings treatment and disposal. The product portfolio includes lump ore, sinter feed, and pellet feed, inputs mainly used in steelmaking blast furnaces. The company implemented a tailings filtration and dry stacking solution, discontinuing the use of dams, and in 2023 added a sludge centrifugation system, focusing on mineral waste management. Ore distribution is carried out mainly by truck to rail terminals in Minas Gerais and from there by rail to ports, with shipments to the external market, especially China and other Asian markets. A relevant portion of the volume is consumed internally by the Ipatinga plant, reinforcing the group’s integrated profile.

Usiminas’ customer base is diversified by sector, with no material concentration in any single third-party buyer. In steel, the main end markets are the automotive and auto parts industries, civil construction and infrastructure, machinery and equipment manufacturers, the energy sector, electronics, home appliances, in addition to steel distributors and processors. The company’s steel is found in light and heavy vehicles, buildings, ships, wind towers, oil platforms, agricultural equipment, industrial machinery, solar panels, and various other durable and capital goods. In mining, most sales are directed to the external market, with the domestic market served mainly through ore delivery to the Ipatinga plant itself and supply to small local steelmakers. According to recent information, there are no third-party customers accounting for more than 10% of consolidated gross revenue.

Geographically, Usiminas’ industrial and administrative operations are distributed across different Brazilian states. Corporate offices are concentrated in Belo Horizonte (MG), São Paulo (SP), and Porto Alegre (RS). The steel and steel processing units are located in cities such as Ipatinga, Santa Luzia, and Betim, in Minas Gerais; Cubatão, Guarulhos, and Taubaté, in São Paulo; Vitória, in Espírito Santo; Cabo de Santo Agostinho, in Pernambuco; and Porto Alegre, in Rio Grande do Sul. Mining operations are concentrated in Itatiaiuçu and Mateus Leme, in Minas Gerais. In addition to industrial plants, the company maintains, through its subsidiaries and equity interests, port and rail logistics terminals, as well as an area near the Port of Itaguaí (RJ), acquired at a judicial auction, which is subject to environmental remediation and monitoring and may be tied to future logistics arrangements for iron ore exports.

Usiminas’ activities are subject to strict environmental and sector regulation. The steel plants in Minas Gerais and São Paulo depend on environmental licenses issued by state agencies, in three-phase processes that cover preliminary, installation, and operating licenses. The Ipatinga plant, for example, operates with an Operating License under renewal with the environmental agencies of Minas Gerais, keeping its activities authorized while the technical review is underway, which includes conditions related to water reservoir safety. The subsidiary Mineração Usiminas also depends on state environmental licensing and specific authorizations for mineral exploration, vegetation suppression, and use of water resources, in accordance with federal and state environmental legislation, water resources regulations, and the mining code. The supply chain includes regulated inputs such as fuels, overseen by ANP, and explosives for civil use, regulated by the Ministry of Defense, as well as rules for transporting hazardous products defined by ANTT.

Corporate governance and integrity aspects also shape Usiminas’ institutional profile which, as a publicly traded company listed on B3 and issuer of USIM3, USIM5, and USIM6 shares, maintains a management structure subject to Brazilian capital markets rules. In 2019, the company formalized an Integrity Program that brings together a Code of Ethics and Conduct and policies to guide internal and external relationships, applicable to employees and officers. Historically, the company has initiatives in social and environmental responsibility, such as the creation of Hospital Márcio Cunha in Ipatinga in the 1960s and environmental education projects launched in the 1980s. In its current operations, it highlights environmental management practices focused on emissions control, treatment of industrial waste, recovery of impacted areas, and the adoption of technological solutions for mining tailings disposal, reflecting the need for continuous alignment with regulatory standards and with evolving socio-environmental requirements in the mining and steel sectors.