Duferco was established in 1979 by Bruno Bolfo, Chairman of the Board, and a group of other steel professionals to exploit the advantages of "emerging markets" steel production. At its inception, Duferco was based in New York, NY, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The Company, through its relationship with local steel producers, quickly became the leading independent exporter of Brazilian steel throughout the world. Duferco's growth and profitability was based upon close relationships with key Brazilian producers (Cosipa/CSN/CST/Acominas and Usiminas) and the establishment of a small sales network, predominately in the US and in the Far East (Duferco's first office in the Far East was in Thailand, which opened in 1980).In the early 1980's, using its success in Brazil as a springboard, Duferco began to source steel products from other countries. First, Duferco concentrated on other South American countries, with its largest success in Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico. Leveraging on that success, Duferco began to develop purchasing operations in North America and Europe, with its first European office opening in London in 1981. Duferco then proceeded to open a chain of offices in the Pacific Rim that came on line in the late 1980's. After Thailand, the Company opened offices in Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and South Korea.In the mid 1990's, the Company opened a large number of offices in Eastern Europe, putting in place an infrastructure in anticipation of the growth of the area as an export market. Duferco also launched ancillary trading operations in the field of raw materials primarily related to the steel industry, such as coke, coal, iron ore, scrap, pig iron, D.R.I., and related products, maximizing its contacts with steel producers throughout the world.In the mid 1990's, two occurrences in Europe presented an opportunity to Duferco. The first was the beginning of a consolidation in European steel, which caused severe financial hardship for smaller European mills. This presented opportunities for Duferco in Italy (Duferdofin), Belgique and Eastern Europe. The second was the restructuring of the Italian steel industry, which caused many steel professionals to enter pre-pension at an early age (50). This permitted Duferco to create an experienced industrial team to manage its properties.Duferco's acquisition of all assets from Ferdofin Siderurgica in receivership (now Duferdofin) was the first step in 1996, followed by many other opportunistic participations/acquisitions, such as Duferco Clabecq (1997), Makstil Skopje (1998), Duferco Farrell Corp. (1999), Duferco La Louvière (1999) and various distribution centers in Europe.
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