The history of the Ferroeste Group begins in October 24, 1968 with the Rural Mechanization Company, which rendered agricultural services, forestry and internal movement in Steel Mills.
In 1978, the Siderúrgica Ferroeste, located in the city of Divinópolis, Minas Gerais, was purchased, rebuilt and modernized through the best pig iron production techniques of the time; this made it possible to reach the highest operational rates in the sector.

Because of the good outcomes reached, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) invited us to build a steel mill along the Vitória-Minas railroad. The construction of FIESA began in 1984, and, in March 1986, its operation started. The pioneer production of low phosphorous pig iron (nodular pig steel) tripled within five years.

In 1993, FIESA purchased Companhia Brasileira de Ferro (CBF) steel mill, which then belonged to the Gerdau Group; the CBF steel mill was renamed CBF Indústria de Gusa SA.
The cogeneration of power using of BFG (blast furnace gas), which began in 2001, and the PCI (pulverized coal injection) of vegetable coal, which was implemented in 2003, are other pioneer benchmarks within the sectors of pig iron production and forefront engineering; more than that, they make CBF proud.

The strong presence of the Ferroeste Group and its history of successful projects within the steel iron production sector allowed us to, once again, accept an invitation from Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), this time to establish a plant along the Estrada de Ferro Carajás railroad. The Gusa Nordeste was created in 1989 in Açailândia, MA, and started its activities in 1993, with a production capacity of 60,000 (sixty-thousand) tons per year. In 2005, it reached the mark of 360,000 (three-hundred, sixty-thousand) tons with three furnaces, thus consolidating the Ferroeste Group as the national leading company in the pig iron industry.

The Gusa Nordeste was the very first step of this steelmaking project named AVB, or Aço Verde do Brasil (Brazilian Green Steel), the only one in the world for the production of fossil fuel-free green steel.
After making a decision to produce long steels, the Gusa Nordeste, which had already signed contracts for the purchase of equipment and service rendering, and with huge investments already made on the engineering and physical sectors, sought financial support with the Banco do Nordeste. In September 2008, in the midst of the greatest crisis in recent History, with no alternatives and a lot of courage, the saga of the AVB saga began. During seven years, we had to face many difficult challenges of different natures until December 2015, when the world’s first green steel was finally produced.

From May 2018 on, the steel billet produced by the AVB steel mill started to be laminated in the form of wire rod and coil rod. The success of this project is assured, not only because this is the first “fossil-free” steel in the world, but also because, within less than two years, AVB has stood out for its high quality of its products and low-cost production. Thus, the AVB – Aço Verde do Brasil is following the same path of success achieved by all the projects and outcomes of the Ferroeste Group, whose aim is to always increase quality and production.
Forest sustainability is based on assets on which we make huge investments, particularly in the regions of the Vale do Jequitinhonha (Minas Gerais), Vitória da Conquista (Bahia) and Grajaú (Maranhão); together, these areas account for about 45,000 (forty-five hundred-thousand) hectares of eucalyptus forests.

Our ethanol production in the Destilaria Veredas, established in 2008 in João Pinheiro, MG, are also part of the Ferroeste Group portfolio.
The The Ferroeste Group also plays a role in the livestock and real estate sectors, in many regions of the State of Minas Gerais.