OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2011. In line with Usiminas management’s information in November 2010, the area will undergo infrastructure improvements.

Businessmen and leaders of several entities in the Steel Valley have reacted quite positively to the news about the BRL  7.4 million investment to be made by Usiminas in its airport, located in Santana do Paraiso. As indicated by Usiminas top management in November last year, improvements will be made in the local infrastructure, including the runway refurbishment and the installation of an x-ray scanner.

Gustavo Souza, president of the Industrial, Service, Commercial and Agribusiness Association of Ipatinga (Aciapi), said that he was surprised about how fast Usiminas released the information about the investments. “I must confess that I was expecting a decision by the middle of the year only.” He adds that the region’s businessmen are quite optimistic and expect that new airlines will show interest in the airport.

The president of the Intermunicipal Steel Valley Association (Sindimiva), Jeferson Pachour, envisages also improvements in the region’s logistic facilities. “This initiative will be very helpful, as the airport conditions will attract other airlines, with favorable impacts on customers and suppliers.”

Commitment to the Community

Now, Usiminas is preparing the executive design and the time schedule, which will include a general refurbishment of the runway and the access area to the aircraft taxiway, an X-ray scanner and a new flight arrival and departure display. According to Ipatinga Mill director Francisco Luis Araujo Amerio, this is one more initiative to strengthen Usiminas’ role as a development driving factor not only in the Steel Valley, but also for other cities and regions where it operates.

For Elisio Cacildo, president of Ipatinga Development Agency, the improvements come in good time and represent a real contribution from Usiminas to the whole Steel Valley community. “Not only the industry, but also the service sector, textiles, businessmen in general and the whole population will benefit from the airport revamp, whose implementation, in our opinion, has always been a fact.”

Moreover, Usiminas submitted to Anac (Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency) an application to upgrade the airport to category 4 as far as the fire fighting capabilities are concerned. Such upgrade would result in an improvement in the airport’s operating capacity, as it could handle larger aircrafts.

Reputable for its active approach to corporate citizenship, Usiminas invested around BRL  30 million in social responsibility actions last year through both direct investments and incentive laws across the 31 municipalities where it operates. “Usiminas is an important development drive for these regions. This commitment is evident, for instance, in the various projects in the fields of social infrastructure, culture support, sports, health and education that the company has maintained or supported in the Steel Valley for the past 50 years,” Ipatinga Mill director Francisco Amerio said.