ABSTRACT
In 1949 the Bethlehem Steel Corporation was invited to invest in Brazil as a minority stockholder in a mining company, Industria e Comercio de Minerios, S.A. (ICOMI), organized and controlled by a private Brazilian mining engineer, Augusto Tranjano de Azevedo Antunes. The joint venture developed rich deposits of minerals, and there were no insuperable technical problems in producing and transporting the ores. In contrast with Hanna’s experience, Bethlehem has experienced a minimum of legal, organizational, financial, political, and transportation problems in achieving its production and export goals. Bethlehem’s principal interest in the manganese venture has been that of providing a source of high-grade manganese for its own steel plants in the United States. In fact, the output of Bethlehem’s joint venture with the Antunes group has been somewhat higher than Bethlehem has regarded as optimum.
