When Brazil was discovered, the merchant
practices ruled Europe. The Portuguese arrived in Brazil
hoping to extract metals such as gold, silver and bronze.
However, they found no metals, not even iron, in the first
moment. The few blacksmiths that came to Brazil used iron
from Europe to produce agricultural tools.
In 1554, Jesuit priest José de
Anchieta informed, in a report to the king of Portugal,
the existence of deposits of silver and iron ore in the
upstate of the São Vicente region (today's São
Paulo state).
The first to work in the reduction of
this iron ore was Afonso Sardinha. In 1587, he discovered
magnetite in today's Sorocaba region, in upstate São
Paulo, and started iron production from reducing iron
ore. This is the first iron plant known in Brazil.
The forges built by Sardinha operated
until his death, in 1629. After this date, the Brazilian
steel industry went into a slumbering period which lasted
until the following century.
