History
Corporate Profile
Strategic Positioning

| History |

Founded on April 9, 1941 by the then President Getúlio Vargas, Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional began operations on October 1, 1946. The Company pioneered the production of flat steel in Brazil, which is a milestone in the Brazilian industrialization process.

The Presidente Vargas Steelworks, CSN’s main steel plant, is located in Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It underwent three major expansions in the 1970’s and 80’s, increasing its annual production capacity to 4.5 million tonnes of crude steel.

Following privatization in 1993, when the Brazilian government sold its 91% interest in the Company, output from the Presidente Vargas facility increased to 5.6 million tonnes per year.

| Corporate Profile |

A publicly-held company with over 20,000 employees, whose shares are traded on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BM&FBOVESPA) and the NYSE, CSN is a highly integrated company with interests in the steel, mining, cement, logistics and energy sectors.

It covers the entire steel production chain, from the mining of iron ore to the production and sale of a diversified range of high value-added products, including coated galvanized flat steel and tinplate. Thanks to its integrated production system and exemplary management, CSN’s production costs are among the lowest in the global steel sector.

CSN’s steel is present in several sectors, including the auto, construction, packaging, home appliance and OEM (capital goods) industries. The Company’s steel sales are focused on the domestic market.

In January 2012, it entered the long steel segment with the acquisition of Stahlwerk Thüringen GmbH (SWT), a German producer of steel profiles, with annual output of 1.0 million tonnes.

In 2007, CSN and its jointly-owned subsidiary NAMISA entered the seaborne iron ore market. CSN also manages two port terminals in Itaguaí, in the state of Rio de Janeiro: Tecar, from which the iron ore is shipped out, and Sepetiba Tecon, a container terminal. With the expansion of the Casa de Pedra mine, CSN has consolidated its position as an important player in the iron ore market and is, together with NAMISA, Brazil’s second largest iron ore producer.

The complementarity of the cement and steel industries led CSN to enter the cement market in 2009, adding value to the slag generated during crude steel production.

The Company is also one of Brazil‘s largest industrial electric power consumers and has been investing in power generation projects since 1999 in order to ensure self-sufficiency. Its average generation capacity is 428 MW, sufficient to supply the power needs of the entire group.

| Strategic Positioning |

Financial solidity, an integrated structure, self-sufficiency in almost all the main inputs and one of the lowest steel production costs in the world have given CSN a unique competitive advantage and provided the platform for its growth strategy in its five operational segments:

MINING

With proven and probable reserves of more than 1.6 billion tonnes, the Company’s Casa de Pedra mine, located in Congonhas, Minas Gerais, supplies CSN with the high quality iron ore needed for steel production.

In 2007, CSN and its jointly-owned subsidiary NAMISA entered the seaborne iron ore market. CSN also manages two port terminals in Itaguaí, in the state of Rio de Janeiro: Tecar, from which the iron ore is shipped out, and Sepetiba Tecon, a container terminal. With the expansion of the Casa de Pedra mine, CSN has also consolidated its position as an important player in the iron ore market and is, together with NAMISA, Brazil’s second largest iron ore producer.

CSN has been expanding the Casa de Pedra and NAMISA mines in order to reach a total annual ore production capacity of 89 million tonnes, 50 million tonnes of which from Casa de Pedra, with NAMISA’s concentration and pelletizing projects supplying the remainder.

The Bocaina mine in Arcos, Minas Gerais, is responsible for supplying the limestone and dolomite consumed as fluxes by the Presidente Vargas Steelworks in Volta Redonda. In 2011, the Arcos mine also began supplying limestone for the production of clinker, an important input for the cement produced in Volta Redonda. As a result, CSN’s operations have become even more integrated through verticalization, thereby enhancing competitiveness and profitability.

One of the raw materials essential for the production of tinplate is tin, which is produced by ERSA - Estanho de Rondônia S.A., a CSN subsidiary. ERSA comprises Mineração Santa Bárbara, in Itapuã do Oeste and a foundry in Ariquemes, both in the state of Rondônia.

STEEL

CSN has one of the lowest steel production costs in the world, giving it an important competitive advantage in the markets where it operates.

Dominating the entire steel production chain, it supplies several industrial sectors with a diversified range of high value-added products, including various types of corrosion-resistant coated galvanized steels. Its main markets are the auto, construction, distribution, home appliance, OEM (capital goods) and metallic packaging segments.

The Company has five galvanizing lines in Brazil: three in the Presidente Vargas plant, in Volta Redonda; one in CSN Porto Real, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and one in CSN Paraná, in Araucária, which also handles cold rolling and pre-painting. It also has two overseas subsidiaries - CSN LLC, in Terre Haute, Indiana, in the United States, a cold-rolling and galvanizing facility, and Lusosider, in Paio Pires, Portugal, which also produces rolled steel.

The Company also produces Galvalume, a galvanized steel coated with a zinc and aluminum alloy, which combines shine and durability, and pre-painted steel, which is used in the home appliance and construction industries.

CSN is also investing in long steel. In January 2012, it acquired Stahlwerk Thüringen GmbH (SWT) for €482.5 million from the Alfonso Gallardo Group. SWT is a German producer of steel shapes, with annual output of 1.0 million tonnes. It is also building its first long-steel unit in Brazil, with an annual production capacity of 500,000 tonnes, using the Presidente Vargas facility’s existing infrastructure.

CSN is Brazil’s sole producer of tinplate, most of which is absorbed by the packaging industry, and one of the five largest producers in the world, with an installed capacity of 1 million tonnes per year.

Companhia Metalúrgica Prada (Prada) was merged into the CSN group in 2006. Prada has Latin America‘s largest industrial park aimed at the manufacturing of steel packaging and lithography services, with two plants in São Paulo and one in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais.

Metalic, another CSN subsidiary, is Latin America’s only manufacturer of two-piece steel beverage cans. It also produces aluminum lids for these cans.

CEMENT

CSN entered the cement market in 2009, encouraged by the synergies between this activity and its current operations. The CSN Cimentos plant has an annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes and is located in Volta Redonda, near the Presidente Vargas Steelworks. Its main raw material is slag, a pig iron by-product. Using the limestone from the Arcos mine (Minas Gerais), CSN began producing clinker in 2011. Thanks to these raw materials, the plant’s strategic location in the state of Rio de Janeiro near São Paulo and Minas Gerais, and the logistics facilities, production costs are exceptionally low.

Given the expected growth of the domestic cement market, CSN Cimentos plans to expand its annual grinding capacity from the current 2.4 million to 5.4 million tonnes, and its annual clinker production capacity from 830,000 to 3.0 million tonnes

LOGISTICS

Efficient logistics plays a vital role in the Company’s healthy financial performance, especially in regard to mining and steelmaking. CSN operates two terminals in the Port of Itaguaí, in Rio de Janeiro: Tecar, which handles bulk solids, and Sepetiba Tecon, which handles containers.

CSN has been expanding Tecar, which ships iron ore to the seaborne market, to reach an annual ore loading capacity of 84 million tonnes.

Sepetiba Tecon, a hub port, is the largest container terminal in Rio de Janeiro and one of the largest in Brazil. In order to expand the terminal, the Company is investing in infrastructure through the acquisition of new equipment and the equalization of berth 301.

CSN retains an interest in two railway companies: MRS Logística and Transnordestina Logística S.A.

MRS Logística (MRS) operates the former Southeastern Network of the Federal Railways (RFFSA), in the Rio de Janeiro - São Paulo - Belo Horizonte corridor. CSN holds, directly and indirectly, 33.27% of its voting capital.

MRS focuses most of its activities on heavy haul clients (ore, coal and coke).

In 2006, Transnordestina S.A. was merged by Companhia Ferroviária do Nordeste (CFN) and renamed Transnordestina Logística S.A. (TLSA).

TLSA operates the former Northeastern Network of the Federal Railways (RFFSA), which extends for 4,534 km and connects seven states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Alagoas. TLSA’s concession agreement runs for 30 years as of 1997 and may be extended for a similar period.

At the end of 2011, CSN held a 70.91% interest in the railway. With the federal government’s support, TLSA is building Nova Transnordestina, a 1,728 km railway connecting the rail terminal in Eliseu Martins (Piauí) with the ports of Pecém (Ceará) and Suape (Pernambuco).

ENERGY

The Company is one of Brazil’s largest industrial electric power consumers, behind only the aluminum producers. Consequently, it has been investing in power generation projects since 1999 in order to ensure self-sufficiency. Its assets are: a 29.95% interest in the Itá Hydroelectric Power Plant, in Santa Catarina, corresponding to 167 MW, through a 48.75% stake in Itá Energética S. A.; a 17.9% interest in the 210 MW Igarapava Hydroelectric Power Plant, in Minas Gerais; and the 238 MW Thermoelectric Cogeneration Center, installed in the Presidente Vargas Steelworks, in Volta Redonda, which is fueled by the waste gases from the steel production process.

These three plants give CSN an average generating capacity of 428 MW, sufficient to meet the power needs of the entire group.

The Company is also installing a top turbine on Blast Furnace 3 at the Presidente Vargas Steelworks, adding 17 average-MW to the group’s current generating capacity, and is studying the possibility of investing in other sources of electricity generation, aiming to maintain self-sufficiency in a sustainable manner.