After overcoming the past few years’ hurdles, the Brazilian construction industry saw a strong growth in 2021, up 9.7% from the previous year. The industry remains optimistic for 2022, although the growth pace is expected to be slower – the Brazilian Chamber of the Construction Industry (CBIC) estimates it at 2.5% .

This is great news for the steel construction segment, whose solutions can make a decisive contribution for the civil construction industry to improve its efficiency, enhance its profitability, and intensify the technological development of the Brazilian construction chain.

The panel on Steel Construction Panel: Solutions for Infrastructure and Buildings, which will be held on June 8 as part of the 6th edition of ABM WEEK, will feature prominent professionals from the Brazilian and international industry who will address the industry’s current needs and introduce innovative steel construction solutions in Brazil and abroad.

“Participants will give their testimonies of how steel construction can be competitive both in infrastructure works and large and small buildings,” Geraldo Iran S. L. Cardoso, director of ABM’s (Brazilian Metallurgy, Materials and Mining Association) Midwest Unit, explains. Along with Débora Oliveira, director of Communication and Institutional Relations at Instituto Aço Brasil, Cardoso is one of the panel coordinators.

Horacidio Leal Barbosa Filho, CEO of ABM, Marco Polo de Mello Lopes, CEO of AInstituto Aço Brasil and Pedro Dias, secretary of Geology, Mining, and Mineral Transformation at the Ministry of Mines and Energy will open the panel and welcome participants. Next, exhibitors will discuss the Brazilian steel construction industry’s current situation, including its requirements and bottlenecks.

Marino Garofani (vice president for steel structures at ABCEM – Brazilian Steel Construction Association and president of Brafer Construções Metálicas), Eduardo Zanotti (executive director at CBCA – Brazilian Center for Steel Construction), and Ricardo Fakury (Administrative Dean at the Federal University of Minas Gerais) are among participants. The debates will be led by ABCEM.

In the following session, major players in the international steel construction industry present various technological possibilities of using steel in buildings. Alejandro Wagner (executive director of Alacero – Latin American Steel Association), Bassam Burgan (director of SCI – Steel Construction Institute, UK), Carlos Rebelo (professor at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and ISISE – Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering), and Luis Pupin (R&D specialist with ArcelorMittal) will take part in the debate. Luis Simões, director of ISISE and deputy dean at the University of Coimbra, will be in charge of the coordination.

Brazilian specialists will address innovative approaches in the use of steel solutions in the local market in the last part of the Panel. Tomás Vieira de Lima (director of steel structure at ABECE – Brazilian Association of Structural Engineering and Consulting), Gustavo Chodraui (Senior Calculation Engineer at Codeme), Alexandre Jordão (specialist in market development at CBMM), and Luiz Henrique Ceotto (CEO of URBIC) will participate in the debate, under ABECE’s coordination.

According to Cardoso, the Panel's exhibitors will certainly address the “bottlenecks that make the use of steel construction a hard task even when feasibility studies rank it as the most competitive solution.”
“In addition to the speakers, the Panel will certainly count on a highly qualified audience, who will objectively discuss core issues for the industry development, including logistical and commercial uncertainties,” he points out.
Cardoso explains that, regardless of structural problems affecting some links of the Brazilian construction chain, steel construction has not undergone significant impacts.

“We can rely on high quality steel in Brazil, not to mention the availability of cutting-edge manufacturing, construction, and erection technologies,” he adds.

Still according to Cardoso, it is necessary to disseminate the competitive advantages of steel in civil construction in a more effective way, such as the absence of residues and waste, which is one of the outcomes of its outstanding technological efficiency. “It allows works to be completed within the deadlines set out, making budget revision a rare situation,” he comments.

Important : All participants must present a vaccination certificate, which will be checked at the time of registration both at self-service check-in and the event office.

The 6th ABM WEEK is hosted by Gerdau and is sponsored by the following companies: Açokorte, Alkegen, Amepa GmbH, Aperam, ArcelorMittal, Atomat Services, AutoForm, BM Group/Polytec, BRC, BR Event Materials, CBMM, Clariant, Danieli, Dassault Systèmes, DME Engenharia, Eirich, Enacom, Engineering, Evonik, Fosbel, GSI, Harsco, Hatch/CISDI, Ibar, Imerys, IMS Messsysteme GmbH, Isra Vision Parsytec, John Cockerill Industry, Kuttner, Metso Outotec, Nalco Water/Ecolab, Nouryon, Primetals Technologies, PSI Metals, Reframax , RHI Magnesita, Saint-Gobain, SMS Group Paul Wurth/ Vetta, Spraying Systems, Suez, SunCoke, Tecnosulfur, Ternium, Thermo Fischer, Timken, TopSolid, TRB, Unimetal, Usiminas, Vale, Vamtec, Vesuvius, Villares Metals, Wallonia.be (ADI – Industrial Services, John Cockerill Hydrogen, BorderSystem, Datanet International, Synthetis e PEPITe), White Martins, e Yellow Solution. Special support: CNPq. Institutional support: Abal, Abendi, Abifa, AIST, AIST Mena, Alacero, CBCA, Ibram, Icz, Instituto Aço Brasil, CIMM, Ind4.0.