ABSTRACT
Brazil’s ‘economic miracle’ of the 1950s and 1960s focused on the Sao Paulo–Belo Horizonte–Rio de Janeiro triangle in the southeast and their manufacturing industries, particularly the automobile, metallurgy, chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. The Brazilian steel industry dates back to the nineteenth century, but the sector was developed during the industrial development programmes of Presidents Vargas and Kubitschek during the 1940s and 1950s. The most significant changes came in the early 1990s with the introduction of the Piano Real. Much of the new investment has been targeted at the flat products’ market for the auto industry and special steels. Iron and steel production is widely regarded as a ‘pollution intensive’ industry. Even disregarding raw materials, scrap and chemicals’ storage issues, the central processes lead to a range of pollutants and involve a variety of pollution media. Gauging precise environmental impacts of the steel industry and therefore changes in environmental performance is highly problematic.
