As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 12, 2021May 17, 2022

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F

COMPANHIA SIDERÚRGICA NACIONAL

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

NATIONAL STEEL COMPANY

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

THE FEDERATIVE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

Marcelo Cunha Ribeiro, Chief Financial and Investor Relations Officer

Phone: +55+55 113049-7454 Fax: +55+55 11 3049-7212

marcelo.ribeiro@csn.com.br

Av. Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 3400 – 20^th20th floor

04538-132, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

(Address of principal executive offices)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.

____________________

* Not for trading purposes, but only in connection with the registration of American Depositary Shares pursuant to the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of December 31, 2020:2021:

1,387,524,047 Common Shares without Par Value

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

☑  Yes☐ Yes ☑  No

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

☐ Yes ☑  No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

☑  Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

☑  Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

☑Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow:

Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

☐ Yes ☑ No

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Unless otherwise specified, all references in this annual report to:

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report includes forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, principally under the captions “Item 3. Key Information,” “Item 4. Information on the Company,” “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and “Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.” We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current beliefs, expectations and projections about future events and financial trends affecting us. Although we believe these estimates and forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, these estimates and statements are subject to several risks and uncertainties and are made in light of the information currently available to us.

Many important factors, in addition to those discussed elsewhere in this annual report, could cause our actual results to differ substantially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements, including, among others:

We caution you that the foregoing list of significant factors may not contain all of the material factors that are important to you. The words “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “aim,” “estimate,” “plan,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect”“will” and similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed results of operations, business strategies, financing plans, competitive position, industry environment, potential growth opportunities, the effects of regulation and the effects of competition, among others.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they were made, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or to revise any forward-looking statements after we distribute this annual report because of new information, future events or other factors. In light of the risks and uncertainties described above, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this annual report might not occur and are not an indication of future performance. As a result of various factors, including those set forth above, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements.

PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL AND OTHER INFORMATION

Our audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 20202021 and 20192020 and for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 2019 and 20182019 included elsewhere in this annual report have been presented in thousands of reais and prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB. See note 2.a. to our audited consolidated financial statements.

We have translated some of the Brazilian real amounts contained in this annual report into U.S. dollars solely for the convenience of the reader at the rate of R$5.1975.5805 to US$1.00, which was the U.S. dollar selling rate as of December 31, 2020,2021, as reported by the Central Bank of Brazil, or the Central Bank. As a result of fluctuations in the real/U.S. dollar exchange rate, the U.S. dollar selling rate as of December 31, 20202021 may not be indicative of current or future exchange rates. The U.S. dollar equivalent information presented in this annual report should not be construed as implying that the real amounts represent, or could have been or could be converted into, U.S. dollars at such rates or at any other rate.

Certain figures included in this annual report have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, figures shown as totals in certain tables may not represent an arithmetic sum of the figures that precede them.

Certain Non-IFRS Financial Measures

This annual report includes certain references to the non-IFRS measures of EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA.

We calculate EBITDA as net income (loss) for the period plus net financial income (expenses), income tax and social contribution, depreciation and amortization and results from discontinued operations. We calculate adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) for the period plus net financial income (expenses), income tax and social contribution, depreciation and amortization and results of discontinued operations, plus other operating income (expenses), equity in results of affiliated companies and the proportionate EBITDA of joint ventures. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are not measures of financial performance recognized under IFRS and they should not be considered alternatives to net income (loss) as measures of operating performance, or as alternatives to operating cash flows, or as measures of liquidity. EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are not

calculated using a standard methodology and may not be comparable to the definition of EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA, or similarly titled measures, used by other companies.

PART I

Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Management and Advisors

Not applicable.

Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Not applicable.

Item 3. Key Information

3A. Selected Financial Data[Reserved]

We present in this section summary consolidated financial data derived from, and that should be read in conjunction with, our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report.

The following tables present selected consolidated financial data as of and for each of the periods indicated:

_______________________

_______________________

3B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

3C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

3D. Risk Factors

An investment in the ADSs or our common shares involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks. The trading price of the ADSs could decline due to any of these risks or other factors, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

For purposes of this section, when we state that a risk, uncertainty or problem may, could or will have an “adverse effect” on us or “adversely affect” us, we mean that the risk, uncertainty or problem could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, prospects and/or the trading price of the ADSs, except as otherwise indicated. The risks described below are those that we currently believe may materially and adversely affect us.

Risks Relating to Brazil

The Brazilian government has exercised, and continues to exercise, significant influence over the Brazilian economy and such involvement, along with general political and macroeconomic conditions, could adversely affect us.

The Brazilian government has frequently intervened in the Brazilian economy and occasionally made changes in policy and regulations. The Brazilian government’s actions to control inflation and affect policies and regulations have often involved, among other measures, increases in interest rates, changes in tax and social security policies, price controls, currency exchange and remittance controls, devaluations, capital controls and limits on imports. We may be adversely affected by changes in policy or regulations at the federal, state or municipal level involving or affecting the following factors, among others:

Uncertainty over whether the Brazilian government will implement changes in policy or regulation affecting these or other factors may contribute to economic uncertainty in Brazil and to heightened volatility in the Brazilian securities markets and securities issued by Brazilian companies, including our common shares and the ADSs that represent them.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística), or the IBGE, Brazil’s gross domestic product, or GDP, grew by 1.0% in 2017, 1.1% in 2018 and 1.1% in 2019, following an economic recessionsharply contracted by 4.1% in 2015 and 2016. In 2020 as a resultdue to global effects of developments relating to the COVID-19 pandemic Brazil’s GDP contracted 4.1%.

In March 2021, new governmental regulations were imposedand grew by 4.6% in various cities throughout Brazil mandating social distancing measures and other closures as the number of COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 related deaths continued to increase, with accompanying stresses on the hospital systems throughout Brazil. At the same time, as of the date of this annual report, a relatively low proportion of the Brazilian population has received vaccines due to supply shortages and delays in Brazilian regulatory approval of certain vaccines. No recent comparable events exist that may provide us with guidance regarding the effects of a severe global pandemic. As a result, the final impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic is uncertain and subject to changes that we cannot predict.

These uncertainties, together with the current economic crisis that Brazil is undergoing and other future developments2021. Developments in the Brazilian economy may adversely affect us.Brazil’s growth rates and, consequently, demand for our products, and we have been, and will continue to be, affected by changes in the Brazilian GDP.

Political instability may adversely affect us.

The Brazilian political environment has historically influenced and continues to influence the Brazilian economy as well as the confidence of investors and the general public, and may result in economic slowdown and price volatility of securities issued by Brazilian companies, including our common shares and the ADSs that represent them.

In particular, over the last decade, the Brazilian capital markets experienced an increase in volatility due to the uncertainty of investigations by the Federal Police and the Federal Public MinistryProsecutor’s Office relating to widespread corruption allegations, including Operation Lava Jato. These investigations have affected Brazil’s economic and political environment. Numerous members of the Brazilian government and the legislative branch, as well as executives of large public and private companies have been accused of corruption for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for government concession contracts with companies in the infrastructure, oil, gas and construction sectors, among others. These bribes allegedly financed political party campaigns and were not accounted for or made public, resulting in personal enrichment of the beneficiaries of the corruption scheme. As a consequence, several politicians, including members of Congress and executives of large public and private companies in Brazil, have resigned from their positions and/or been arrested, while others remain under investigation for unethical and illegal conduct identified during these investigations.

The ultimate outcome of these and other investigations remains uncertain, but these investigations have already adversely affected the reputation of the companies involved, as well as the general market perception of the Brazilian economy. There is no guarantee that these ongoing investigations will not lead to further political and economic instability, or whether new allegations against government members, executives and/or public or private companies will emerge in the future.

In addition, any difficulty of the Brazilian government to obtain a majority in Congress could result in congressional deadlock, political unrest and demonstrations and/or strikes that could materially adversely affect our operations. Uncertainties regarding the Brazilian government’s implementation of changes in monetary, tax and social security policies, as well as in the relevant legislation, may contribute to economic instability. These uncertainties and new measures may increase the volatility of the Brazilian securities market.

Moreover, the President of Brazil has the power to determine policies and to issue governmental acts relatingThe Brazilian economy is subject to the conducteffects of uncertainty over political developments in Brazil. In 2022, Brazil will hold elections for President, senators, federal deputies and state deputies. Electoral uncertainty could lead to high volatility in Brazilian financial markets, and uncertainty regarding political developments and the policies the Brazilian economy and, consequently affect the operations and financial performance of companies in Brazil, including us. The President of Brazil is under investigation by the Federal Supreme Court for inappropriate conduct, following allegations by the former Minister of Justice, Mr. Sergio Moro that the President of Brazil tried to influence the appointment of members of the Federal Police for his own benefit and that of his family. If the investigation determines that the President of Brazil improperly interfered with the appointments, any resulting consequences, including a potential impeachment processfederal government may adopt or judgment by the Supreme Court, couldalter may have material adverse effects on the political and economicmacroeconomic environment in Brazil, andas well as on Brazilian companies, including us. As support for the impeachment of the President of Brazil gains momentum and speculation about military interventionbusinesses operating in Brazil, increases, political instability in Brazil has intensified and may continue to destabilize the Brazilian political and economic environment.including ours.

There is no guarantee that the President of Brazil will be able to approve the reforms promised in his campaign, nor which policies he will adopt, or whether the policies or changes in current policies will have an adverse effect on the Brazilian economy or on us.

In March 2021, the Brazilian Supreme Court annulled former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s convictions and reinstated his political rights. Mr. Lula da Silva’s return to the political and electoral landscapes have generated additional uncertainty in Brazil.

Exchange rate instability may adversely affect us and the market price of our common shares and the ADSs.

The Brazilian currency has, during the last decade, experienced frequent and substantial variations compared to the U.S. dollar and other foreign currencies. As of December 31, 2018,2019, the U.S. dollar selling rate was R$3.8754.031 per US$1.00. In 20192020 and 2020,2021, the real depreciated against the U.S. dollar and the U.S. dollar selling rate was R$4.031 per US$1.00 as of December 31, 2019 and R$5.197 per US$1.00 as of December 31, 2020 and R$5.581 per US$1.00 as of December 31, 2021, as reported by the Brazilian Central Bank.

Depreciation of the real against the U.S. dollar creates inflationary pressures in Brazil and causes increases in interest rates, which adversely affect the growth of the Brazilian economy as a whole, curtail access to foreign

financial markets and may prompt government intervention, including recessionary governmental policies. Depreciation of the real against the U.S. dollar may also, in the context of an economic slowdown, lead to decreased consumer spending, deflationary pressures and reduced growth of the Brazilian economy.

On the other hand, appreciation of the real relative to the U.S. dollar and other foreign currencies could lead to a deterioration of the Brazilian foreign exchange current accounts, as well as dampen export-driven growth. Depending on the circumstances, either depreciation or appreciation of the real could materially affect our growth and that of the Brazilian economy, as well as impact the U.S. dollar value of distributions and dividends on, and the U.S. dollar equivalent of the market price of, our common shares and the ADSs.

In the event the real depreciates in relation to the U.S. dollar, the cost in reais of our foreign currency-denominated borrowings and imports of raw materials, particularly coal and coke, will increase. On the other hand, if the real appreciates in relation to the U.S. dollar, it will cause real-denominated production costs to increase as a percentage of total production costs and cause our exports to be less competitive. We have a total U.S. dollar-denominated or -linked indebtedness of R$25,37222,190 million, which represents 71.7%67.7% of our total indebtedness, as of December 31, 2020.

2021.

Government efforts to combat inflation may hinder the growth of the Brazilian economy and could harm us.

Historically, Brazil has experienced high inflation rates. Inflation and certain actions taken by the Central Bank to curb it have had significant negative effects on the Brazilian economy. Inflation as measured by the national broad consumer price index (Índice Nacional de Preços ao Consumidor Amplo), or IPCA, was 3.8%4.3%, 4.3%4.5% and 4.5%10.1% in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2020,2021, respectively, and 7.5%7.3%, 7.3%23.1% and 23.1%, respectively, as measured by the general market price index (Índice Geral de Preços do Mercado), or IGP-M.

The base interest rate for the Brazilian banking system is the Central Bank’s Special System for Settlement and Custody (Sistema Especial de Liquidação e Custódia) rate, or SELIC rate. The SELIC rate was repeatedly lowered from the October 2016 rate of 14.25% to 2.00% in August 2020 and has since steadily increased. As of December 31, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2020,2021, the SELIC rate was 6.5 %, 4.5%, 2.0% and 2.7%9.25%, respectively. In February 2022, the SELIC rate was further increased to 10.75%.

Inflation and the Brazilian government’s measures to address it, principally the Central Bank’s monetary policy, have had and may have significant effects on the Brazilian economy and us. Tight monetary policies with high interest rates have restricted and may restrict Brazil’s growth and the availability of credit. Conversely, more lenient government and Central Bank policies and interest rate decreases have triggered and may trigger increases in inflation, and, consequently, growth volatility and the need for sudden and significant interest rate increases, which could negatively affect us and increase the payments on our indebtedness.

Developments and the perception of risk in other countries, especially other emerging market countries, may adversely affect the trading price of Brazilian securities, including our common shares and the ADSs.

The market value of securities of Brazilian issuers is affected by economic and market conditions in other countries, especially other emerging market countries. Although economic conditions in these countries may differ significantly from economic conditions in Brazil, investors’ reactions to developments in these other countries may have an adverse effect on the market value of securities of Brazilian issuers. Crises in the United States, the European Union or emerging market countries may diminish investor interest in securities of Brazilian issuers, including ours. This could adversely affect the trading price of our common shares and/or the ADSs, and could also make it more difficult for us to gain access to the capital markets and finance our operations on acceptable terms, or at all.

Further, crises in world financial markets, such as in 2020, as well as global economic challenges that persist as of the date of this annual report as a result of developments relating to the COVID-19 Pandemic could affect investors’ views of securities issued by companies that operate in emerging markets. These developments could adversely affect the trading price of our common shares and the ADSs, and could also make it more difficult for us to access the capital markets and finance our operations on acceptable terms, or at all.

Recent global developments relating to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine have generated uncertainty in global markets, and U.S. and European stock markets have seen increased price volatility. We cannot predict how these developments will evolve and whether or to what extent they may affect Brazilian capital markets and, consequently, us.

Risks Relating to Us and the Industries in Which We Operate

We are exposed to substantial changes in the demand for steel and iron ore, which significantly affect the prices of our products and may adversely affect us.

The steel and mining industries are highly cyclical, both in Brazil and abroad. The demand for steel and mining products and, thus, the financial condition and results of operations of companies in these industries, including us, are generally affected by macroeconomic fluctuations in the world economy and the economies of steel-producing countries, including trends in the automotive, construction, home appliances and packaging industries, as well as other industries that rely on steel distributors. A worldwide recession, an extended period of below-trend growth in developed countries or a slowdown in the emerging markets that are large consumers of our products (such as the domestic Brazilian market for our steel products and the Chinese market for iron ore) could sharply reduce demand for our products. In addition, flat steel competes with other materials that may be used as substitutes, such as aluminum (particularly in the automotive and packaging industry), cement, composites, glass, plastic and wood. Government regulatory initiatives mandating the use of such materials in lieu of steel, whether for environmental or other reasons, as well as the development of other new substitutes for steel products, could also significantly reduce market prices and demand for steel products and thereby reduce our cash flow and profitability. Any material decrease in demand or increase in supply for steel and iron ore in the domestic or export markets served by us could have a material adverse effect on us.

Prices charged for iron ore are subject to volatility. International iron ore prices may decrease significantly and materially and adversely affect us or require us to suspend certain of our projects and operations.

Our iron ore prices are based on a variety of pricing terms, which generally use market price indices as a basis for determining customer prices. Our prices for and revenues from iron ore are consequently volatile, which may adversely affect us. In 2021, average iron ore prices increased 46.5% to US$159.5/dmt, from US$108.9/dmt in 2020, and in 2020, average iron ore prices increased 16.6% to US$108.9/dmt, from US$93.4/dmt in 2019, and in 2019, average iron ore prices increased 34.5% from US$69.5/dmt in 2018, according to the average Platts Iron Ore Index (62% Fe CFR China). A decrease in market prices for iron ore may require us to change the way we operate or, depending on the magnitude of price decreases, even to suspend certain of our projects and operations and impair certain assets, which could adversely affect us.

Adverse economic conditions in China and an increase in global iron ore production capacity could materially and adversely affect us.

China has been the main driver of global demand for minerals and metals over the past years, effectively driving global prices for iron ore and steel. In 2020,2021, China accounted for 76%73% of the global seaborne iron ore trade and 76%88% of our iron ore export sales were to the Asian market, mainly China. China is also the largest steel producer in the world, accounting for approximately 57%54% of the global steel production in 2020.2021.

A contraction of China’s economic growth could result in lower global demand for iron ore and steel and increase the global steel industry’s over-capacity, which would materially and adversely affect companies in the industry, including us. Poor performance in the Chinese real estate sector and low investments in infrastructure, two of the largest markets for carbon steel in China, could also adversely affect us. As a result of developments relatingfiscal and monetary stimuli to counter the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, China’s economic growth slowed downaccelerated and its GDP increased 8.1% in 2021, as compared to 2.3% in 2020 as compared toand 6.1% in 2019 and 6.6% in 2018.2019.

In addition, the ramp-up of projects started in past years by major iron ore suppliers could affect seaborne iron ore prices and adversely affect us. Moreover, the recent upsurge in iron ore prices could also stimulate high cost producers to resume operations, expanding our supply base, which may adversely affect us.

We are exposed to substantial changes in commodities prices, including oil prices, which significantly affect the prices of our inputs and the prices of our products, and may adversely affect us.

We are subject to volatility in international commodities prices. This volatility affects the prices of certain of our inputs, such as oil, and may therefore adversely affect our results of operations. In 2022 to date, oil prices have increased steeply, largely due to recent global developments relating to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. International commodity price volatility may also affect the prices of our products, thereby having an impact on our pricing strategy, demand for our products and our results of operations.

We may not be able to adjust our mining production volume in a timely or cost-efficient manner in response to changes in demand.

Revenues from our mining business represented 26.0%39.4%, 39.4%42.1% and 42.1%37.7% of our total net revenues in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2020,2021, respectively. Operating at significant idle capacity during periods of weak demand may expose us to higher unit production costs since a significant portion of our cost structure is fixed in the short-term due to the high capital intensity of mining operations. In addition, efforts to reduce costs during periods of weak demand could be limited by labor regulations or labor or government agreements.

Conversely, our ability to rapidly increase production capacity is limited, which could render us unable to fully satisfy demand for our iron ore. When demand exceeds our production capacity, we may meet excess customer demand by purchasing iron ore from unrelated parties and reselling it, which would increase our costs and narrow our operating margins. If we are unable to satisfy excess customer demand in this way, we may lose customers. In addition, operating close to full capacity may expose us to higher costs, including demurrage fees due to capacity restraints in our logistics systems.

A decrease in the availability or an increase in the price of raw materials for steel production, particularly coal and coke, may adversely affect us.

In 2020,2021, raw material costs accounted for 63.3%73.0% of our total steel production costs. Our main raw materials include iron ore, coal, coke, limestone, dolomite, manganese, zinc, tin and aluminum. We depend on third parties for some of our raw material requirements, including importing all of the coal required to produce coke. In addition, we require significant amounts of energy, in the form of natural gas and electricity, to power our plants and equipment.

Any prolonged interruption in the supply of raw materials, natural gas or electricity, or substantial increases in their prices, could materially and adversely affect us. Interruptions and price increases could result from changes in laws or trade regulations, the availability and cost of transportation, suppliers’ allocations to other purchasers, interruptions in production by suppliers and/or accidents or similar events on suppliers’ premises or along the supply chain. Any inability to pass these cost increases onto our customers or to meet our customer demand because of scarcity of our key raw materials could also have a material and adverse effect on us.

Our steel products face significant competition, including price competition, from other domestic or foreign producers, which may adversely affect our profitability and market share.

The global steel industry is highly competitive with respect to price, product quality, customer service and technological advances permitting reduced production costs. Several factors influence Brazil’s export of steel products, including protectionist policies of other countries, especially the United States, disputes regarding these policies before the World Trade Organization, the Brazilian government’s exchange rate policy and the growth rate of the world economy. Further, continuous advances in materials sciences and technology have given rise to improvements in products such as plastics, aluminum, ceramics and glass, permitting them to serve as substitutes for steel. Due to high start-up costs, the economics of operating a steelworks facility on a continuous basis may encourage mill operators to maintain high levels of output, even in times of low demand, which results in oversupply and increases the pressure on industry profit margins. In addition, downward pressure on steel prices by our competitors may affect our profitability.

The steel industry has historically suffered from structural over-capacity which has worsened due to a substantial increase in production capacity in the developing world, particularly China and India, as well as other emerging markets. China is the largest global steel producer and, in addition, Chinese and certain steel exporting countries have favorable conditions (excess steel capacity, undervalued currency or higher market prices for steel in non-domestic markets), which can have a significant impact on steel prices in other markets. If we are not able to remain competitive in relation to competitors in China or other steel-producing countries, we may be adversely affected.

Steel companies in Brazil face strong competition from imported products, mainly as a result of the global excess in steel production, reduction in demand for steel products in mature markets, exchange rate appreciation and tax incentives in some of the main exporting countries. Despite Brazilian import duties to protect domestic producers, a substantial volume of steel products is imported. If the Brazilian government does not implement measures against subsidized steel imports and there is an increase in imports, we may be materially and adversely affected. Apart from direct steel imports, the Brazilian industry also faces competition from imported finished goods, which adversely affects the whole steel supply and production chain.

Protectionist and other measures adopted by foreign governments could adversely affect our export sales.

In response to increased production and steel exports from many countries, anti-dumping and countervailing duty and safeguard measures were imposed in the late 1990s and early 2000s by foreign governments representing the main markets for our exports. This scenario returned in 2015, when U.S. authorities initiated anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on hot-rolled and cold-rolled steel sheets and coils imported from Brazil and other countries, which resulted in anti-dumping duties and countervailing duty tariffs issued in 2016. In 2021, the International Trade Commission, or ITC, initiated the five year “sunset reviews” of anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders for both hot-rolled and cold-rolled products. In 2016, the European Commission initiated an anti-dumping investigation of hot-rolled sheets and coils imported from Brazil and other countries, which, in 2017, resulted in anti-dumping duties for the exports of hot-rolled steel products into the European Union from Brazil. In 2021, the European Commission initiated an anti-dumping investigation of electrolytic chromium coated steel (tin free steel) products imported from Brazil and China, which results are expected for the last quarter of 2022. Because we export tin free steel to Europe, the result of this investigation may adversely affect us.

In April 2017, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, requested an investigation under Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act to determine if steel imports were harming U.S. national security. As a result of this investigation, in March 2018, the U.S. government implemented Section 232 measures and imposed an ad valorem tariff of 25% on imported steel. Brazil obtained a temporary suspension of the measure until the end of April 2018, which was extended to the end of May 2018. After the suspension, Brazil entered into an agreement with the United States, which established quotas for semi-finished steel products based on average exports between 2015 and 2017 and quotas for finished steel products based on average exports between 2015 and 2017 with a reduction of 30%.

Prompted by the United States’ adoption of Section 232 measures, the European Union initiated, in April 2018, an investigation into safeguards for imports of 26 categories of steel products. In February 2019, a definitive E.U. regulation imposed safeguard measures on imports of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and tin mill products and imposed quotas for the next three years. On February 26, 2021 the European Commission initiated a review investigation to determine whether the E.U. safeguard measures on certain steel products should be extended, past their current lapse date ofwhich results were published in June 30, 2021. In December 2021, the European Commission initiated another review, which results are expected for June 2022.

For more information on protectionist measures, see “Item 4B. Business Overview—Regulatory Matters—Protectionist Measures.” The imposition of these and other protectionist measures by foreign countries may materially and adversely affect our export sales.

Measures adopted by, or conflicts between, foreign governments could adversely affect us.

Recent global developments relating to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine have generated significant uncertainty in global commodities and financial markets, and the global steel market, among others, has shown indications of instability. Misalignment between supply and demand in the international steel market may adversely affect our pricing strategy, undermine our investment strategy and adversely affect us. Misalignment could result from, among others, international embargoes between governments or suspended international steel production due to significant increases in the prices of raw materials or, in the case of certain companies, proximity to conflict zones.

Our activities depend on authorizations, concessions, licenses and permits and changes in applicable laws, regulations or government measures could adversely affect us.

Our activities and the activities of our subsidiaries and joint ventures are subject to governmental authorizations, concessions, licenses and permits, which include environmental licenses, as well as water grants, for our infrastructure projects and concessions, including for the port terminals we operate and the railways in which we have an equity interest. Although we believe that such authorizations, concessions, licenses and permits will be granted and/or renewed as and when requested, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to maintain, renew or obtain any required authorization, concession, license or permit, or that no additional requirement will be imposed on us in connection with our requests.

Authorizations, concessions, licenses or permits required for the development of our activities may require that we meet certain performance thresholds or completion milestones. In case we are unable to meet these thresholds or milestones, we may lose or not be able to obtain or renew such authorizations, concessions, licenses or permits, or we may not be able to do so under the terms of new concession laws, claims for amicable contractual termination and subsequent re-bidding for concessions. We also cannot guarantee that we, our

subsidiaries and our joint ventures that hold concessions will timely comply with our or their obligations under any relevant concession agreement or in conduct adjustment agreements (Termos de Ajustamento de Conduta), or TACs, entered into with governmental agencies. In addition, we are subject to supervision and penalties from governmental entities, including the Brazilian court of audit (Tribunal de Contas da União), or TCU, and regulatory agencies. A material breach of those obligations may result in the loss or early termination of concessions, authorizations, permits and/or licenses, the restriction of access to public financing for the concession or the amortization of public financing before a project begins to operate, the acceleration or an event of default under our indebtedness. Additionally, we would be subject to penalties, including fines or the closure of facilities. In case of a takeover or concession agreement termination due to government default, if we are entitled to any indemnification from granting authorities for our investments, this indemnification may be insufficient to cover our costs, expenses or losses and may be paid long after the events affecting our concessions, licenses or permits occur, if at all.

In addition, changes in applicable laws or regulations could require modifications to our technologies and operations and unexpected capital expenditures. Capital expenditures that we have already made may not generate the returns we expected, if any.

After accidents involving the breaking of upstream mining dams operated by other mining companies in the cities of Mariana and Brumadinho in the state of Minas Gerais, the Brazilian National Mining Agency (Agência Nacional de Mineração), or the ANM, which is the regulatory agency under the Ministry of Mines and Energy (Ministério de Minas e Energia) of the Brazilian government, and Brazilian environmental regulatory authorities have applied more stringent environmental licensing requirements for mining project operations, specifically for dams.

The amount and timing of these and other environmental and related expenditures may vary substantially from those currently anticipated and we may encounter delays in obtaining environmental or other operating licenses, or not be able to obtain and/or renew them, which could subject us to civil, administrative or criminal liability and closure orders. Any of the above events, among others, may adversely affect us and our ability to obtain expected returns from our projects, and may render certain projects economically or otherwise unfeasible.

Further new or more stringent environmental licensing requirements for our project operations, specifically for our dams, could be imposed on us. For additional information on mining regulations in Brazil, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—4B. Business Overview—Regulatory Matters—Mining Regulation.”

We have a high level of indebtedness that could make it more difficult or expensive to refinance our maturing debt and/or incur new debt.

As of December 31, 2020,2021, our total debt outstanding was R$35,270.732,507.5 million, comprising R$4,126.55,486.8 million of short-term debt and R$31,144.227,020.7 million of long-term debt. We had R$9,944.616,646.5 million in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020.2021. Our planned investments across our business segments will require a significant amount of cash over the course of 20212022 and following years. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—4D. Property, Plant and Equipment—Acquisitions and Dispositions.”

Our level of indebtedness could affect our credit rating and our ability to obtain any necessary financing in the future and may increase our cost of borrowing. In addition, our level of indebtedness could make it more difficult to refinance our existing indebtedness and could make us more vulnerable in the event of a downturn in our business. In these and other circumstances, servicing our indebtedness may use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations, which could adversely affect us and make it more difficult for us to make payments of dividends and other distributions to our shareholders, including the holders of ADSs, as well as to fund our operations, working capital and capital expenditures necessary for the maintenance and expansion of our business activities.

Our ability to refinance our indebtedness maturing in 20212022 and 20222023 is subject to market conditions and creditor approvals. In the event conditions are not favorable or approvals are not obtained, we will be required to make significant payments in the next 24 months under our financings, which would adversely affect our financial and cash position and may result in downgrades in our credit ratings.

We cannot assure you that our credit ratings will not be lowered, suspended or withdrawn by the rating agencies.

Our credit ratings are limited in scope, and do not address all material risks relating to an investment in our common shares or the ADSs, but rather reflect only the views of the rating agencies at the time the ratings are issued. These ratings may affect the cost and other terms upon which we are able to obtain funding and are subject to change due to factors specific to us, trends in the industries we operate in or trends in the credit and

capital markets generally. As of December 31, 2020,2021, our Fitch, Moody’s and S&P credit ratings were B+BB with a positive outlook, B2Ba2 with a stable outlook and BBB with a positive outlook, respectively. In February 2021, S&P upgraded our credit rating to B+ with a positive outlook and, in March 2021, Fitch upgraded our credit rating to BB- with a positive outlook.

Credit rating agencies regularly evaluate us and their ratings are based on a number of factors, including our financial strength. We cannot assure you that credit rating agencies will not downgrade our credit ratings or that credit ratings will remain in effect for any given period of time or not be withdrawn entirely by the rating agencies, if in their judgment circumstances so warrant. Any lowering, suspension or withdrawal of our credit ratings may have an adverse effect on us and our ability to refinance our existing indebtedness.

Accidents or malfunctioning equipment on our premises, railways or ports may decrease or interrupt production, internal logistics or distribution of our products and adversely affect us.

The steel and iron ore production processes depend on certain critical equipment, such as blast furnaces, steel converters, continuous casting machines, rolling mills, drillers, reclaimers, conveyor belts, crushing and screening equipment and ship loaders, as well as on internal logistics and distribution channels, such as seaports and railways. This equipment and infrastructure may be affected in the case of malfunction or damage. Any significant interruptions in our production process, internal logistics or distribution channels (including our ports and railways) could materially and adversely affect us.

In addition, our operations involve the use, handling, storage, discharge and disposal of hazardous substances into the environment. Our mining, steel and cement businesses are generally subject to significant risks and hazards, including fire, explosions, toxic gas leaks, spilling of polluting substances or other hazardous materials, rockfall incidents in mining operations and incidents involving mobile equipment or machinery and accidents involving our dams. Such events could occur by accident or by breach of operating and maintenance standards, and could result in a significant environmental impact, damage to or destruction of our mineral properties and/or production facilities, personal injury or death, delays or suspensions in production, monetary losses and exposure to civil responsibilities, administrative penalties, criminal sanctions and closure orders for non-compliance with these regulations. Our health, safety and environmental standards and risk management programs and procedures may be insufficient to prevent incidents or accidents that could adversely affect us.

Failures in or interruptions to our telecommunications, information technology systems or automated machinery could adversely affect us.

Our operations are heavily reliant on telecommunications, information technology systems and automated machinery. Disruptions to these systems, caused by obsolescence, technical failures or intentional acts, may adversely affect us. In addition, any failure in our systems related to confidential information, caused by external cyber-attacks or internal actions, including negligence or misconduct of our employees, could adversely affect our reputation and our interactions with customers, competitors and other third parties, including governmental and regulatory bodies, suppliers and others, and may, among other things, expose us to fines and litigation.

In 2018, Law No. 13,709/2018,Unauthorized access to or release or violation of our or our business partners’ systems and data could materially and adversely affect us.

We are subject to a broad range of cyber threats, including attacks, with varying levels of sophistication. These cyber threats are related to the Brazilian General Data Protection Law, was enacted to take effect in August 2020confidentiality, availability and to change the personal data protection system in Brazil. This law sets forth a new legal framework for the treatmentintegrity of personalour systems and data, including the rightsour customers’ and business partners’ confidential, classified or personal information. In addition, because we have access to certain information technology systems of personal data holders, the legal basis applicable to personal data protection, the requirements to obtain consent, the obligations and requirements related to security incidents, personal data leaks and transfers and the creationcertain of the Brazilian Data Protection Authority, among others. If we fail to adapt our processes to comply with this law, webusiness partners, our systems may be subject to penalties, including mandatory disclosureattacks aimed at accessing, tampering with or exposing our business partners’ systems and their data.

In addition, certain of our non-compliance, temporary blocking and/or deletion of personal data and fines of upbusiness partners, including our suppliers, have broad access to 2%certain of our revenueconfidential and strategic information. Many of these business partners face similar security threats and any attacks on their systems could result in the last fiscal year, excluding taxes, upunauthorized access to an aggregate amountour systems or data. Any unauthorized access to, or release or violation of R$50.0 million per infraction.

our systems and data, whether directly or through cyberattacks or similar breaches affecting our business partners, could materially and adversely affect us, including subjecting us to regulatory scrutiny and fines.

Our insurance policies may not be sufficient to cover all our losses.

We maintain several types of insurance policies as part of our risk management for each of our businesses and seek to follow industry practice regarding best coverage, which encompasses domestic and international (import and export) cargo transportation (road, rail, sea or air), life insurance, personal accidents, health, automobile, directors and officers, general liability, CAR (construction and erection risks), trade credit insurance, surety, named perils, ports and terminal liabilities.

We also have an insurance policy covering the operational risks, material damages and loss of profits of the following operations and subsidiaries: Presidente Vargas Steelworks, CSN Mineração S.A., or CSN Mineração, and the container terminal Sepetiba Tecon S.A., or TECON.

The coverage obtained in our insurance policies may not be sufficient to cover all risks or the extent of the risks we are exposed to, which could expose us to significant costs. Additionally, we may not be able to successfully contract or renew our insurance policies or to do so on terms satisfactory to us. The occurrence of one or more of these events may adversely affect us.

Our projects are subject to risks that, if materialized, may result in increased costs and/or delays or that could prevent their timely or successful implementation.

We are investing to further increase our steel, mining and cement production capacity and/or efficiency, as well as our logistics capabilities. The success of these projects is subject to a number of risks that, if materialized, may adversely affect our growth prospects and profitability, including, among others:

Any one or a combination of the factors described above may materially and adversely affect our ability to successfully implement our strategy.strategy and, consequently, us.

We are subject to environmental, health and safety incidents and current, new or more stringent regulations may result in liability exposure and increased capital expenditures.

Our steel production, mining, cement, energy and logistics facilities are subject to a broad range of laws, regulations and permit requirements in the countries where we operate relating to the protection of the environment, health and safety.

Brazilian pollution standards are subject to change, including new effluent and air emission standards, water management and solid waste-handling regulations, wildlife maintenance regulations, restrictions on business expansions, native forest preservation requirements and the obligation to support the creation of an integral protection conservation unit, as privately owned conservation areas (Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural), or national parks, or areas of relevant ecological interest (Área de Relevante Interesse Ecológico – ARIE) as environmental compensation for industrial and mining expansion projects. The Brazilian government has adopted a decree under the national policy for climate change (Política Nacional de Mudanças Climáticas) that contemplates a reduction in carbon emissions for the mining, steel and cement industries and an action plan is under development by a technical committee composed of representatives from the government, industry associations and academia.

The state of Rio de Janeiro, through the State Environment Institute (Instituto Estadual do Ambiente), or INEA, issued a law that requires steel makingsteelmaking and cement facilities to present action plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when renewing or applying for operational licenses. At the federal level, the environmental national council (Conselho Nacional do Meio Ambiente), or CONAMA, which is responsible for enacting technical regulations and environmental protection standards, issued Resolution No. 436/2011 to address air emissions that obliged steel companies to comply with certain emission standards as of December 2018, including adjustments in the filters of plant chimneys. In September 2018, we entered into a TAC with the state

of Rio de Janeiro relating to this resolution. The Brazilian government has also established a national policy for solid waste (Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos), which provides for strict guidelines for solid waste management and industry targets for reverse logistics as part of the environmental licensing process. Finally, a new regulatory framework for mining operations was issued in June 2018, which has imposed and may further impose stricter regulations on our mining operations, including requests for environmental recovery of areas and investments for the granting of mining concessions. Any failure to comply with these or other laws, resolutions and standards may expose us to civil, criminal and administrative liability.

Our operations involve the use of natural resources, and are subject to significant risks and hazards, including fire, explosion, toxic gas leaks, spilling of polluting substances or other hazardous materials, rockfalls, incidents involving dams, failure of operational structures and incidents involving mobile equipment, vehicles or machinery. This could occur by accident or by breach of operating and maintenance standards, and could result in significant environmental and social impacts, damage to or destruction of mineral properties or production facilities, personal injury, illness or death of employees, contractors or community members close to operations, environmental damage, delays in production, monetary losses and possible legal liability. Additionally, in remote localities, our employees may be exposed to tropical and contagious diseases that may affect their health and safety. Notwithstanding our standards, policies and controls, our operations remain subject to incidents or accidents that could adversely affect us and our stakeholders.

New or more stringent environmental, health and safety standards imposed on us could require increased capital expenditures, additional legal preservation areas within our properties or modifications to our operating practices or projects. For further information on environmental regulations and claims, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—4B. Business Overview—Governmental Regulation and Other Legal Matters.”

The amount and timing of expenditures related to environmental, health and safety matters may vary substantially from those currently anticipated. These additional costs may have a negative impact on the profitability of the projects we intend to implement or may make such projects economically unfeasible. Waste disposal, including our slag piles, and emission practices may result in the need for us to clean up or retrofit our facilities or our disposal locations at substantial costs and/or could result in substantial civil, criminal and administrative liability, including, among others, pursuant to public civil actions. Environmental legislation in foreign markets to which we export our products may also materially and adversely affect our export sales and us.

In addition, we may enter into TACs with Brazilian regulatory agencies that require us to minimize or eliminate the risk of environmental impacts in the areas where we operate. If we are unable to comply with a TAC or to remediate non-compliance in a timely manner, we may be exposed to penalties, such as fines, delays in obtaining environmental or other operating licenses, revocation of permits or closure of facilities.

Our governance and compliance procedures may fail to prevent regulatory penalties and reputational harm.

We operate in a global environment and our activities straddle multiple jurisdictions and complex regulatory frameworks subject to enforcement worldwide. Our governance and compliance procedures may not prevent breaches of legal, accounting and/or governance standards applicable to us, and we may be unable to identify wrongdoing or improper activities by members of our management, employees contracts or other agents.third parties. We may be subject to breaches of our Code of Ethics, business conduct protocols and to instances of fraudulent behavior, dishonesty and unlawful conduct by members of our management, employees, contractors or other agents, which could subject us to fines, loss of our operating licenses and reputational harm, as well as other penalties, which may materially and adversely affect us.

We may fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, which could prevent us from timely and accurately reporting our financial results.

Our internal controls over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements in a timely manner due to inherent limitations, including human error, circumvention or overriding of controls, or fraud. Even effective internal controls can provide only reasonable assurance with respect to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements. If we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, including implementing new or improved required controls, we could fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which could trigger a default under certain of our agreements. In this regard, and in connection with management’s evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we concluded that, as of December 31, 2020,2021, our internal control over financial reporting is effective.

Certain of our operations depend on joint ventures, strategic alliances and consortia, among other forms of cooperation, and our business could be adversely affected if our partners fail to observe their commitments.

We currently operate parts of our business through joint ventures, strategic alliances and consortia with other companies. We have, among others: (i) a strategic alliance with an Asian consortium at our controlled investee CSN Mineração to mine iron ore; (ii) a joint ventureconcession jointly held with other Brazilian steel and mining companies at MRS Logística S.A., or MRS, to explore railway transportation in the Southeastern region of Brazil; (iii) a joint ventureconcession jointly held with certain Brazilian governmental entities at Transnordestina Logística S.A., or TLSA, to explore railway transportation in the Northeastern region of Brazil; (iv) a joint venture with Engie Brasil Energia S.A., or Engie Brasil, and Companhia de Cimento Itambé, or Itambé, at Itá Energética S.A., or ITASA, to produce electricity; and (v) a consortium with L.D.R.S.P.E Geração de Energia e Participações, Aliança Geração de Energia S.A. (union of Vale S.A., or Vale, and CEMIG Geração e Transmissão S.A.), or Aliança, and AngloGold Ashanti Córrego do Sítio Mineração S.A., or AngloGold, at Igarapava hydroelectric facility to produce electricity.

Our forecasts and plans for these joint ventures, strategic alliances and consortia assume that our partners will observe their obligations to make capital contributions, purchase products and, in certain cases, provide managerial personnel or financing. In addition, many of the projects contemplated by our joint ventures or consortia rely on financing commitments, which contain certain preconditions for each disbursement. If any of our partners fails to observe their commitments or we fail to comply with all preconditions required under our financing commitments or other partnership arrangements, the affected joint venture, consortium or other project may not be able to operate in accordance with its business plans, or we may have to increase the level of our investment to implement these plans, which could adversely affect us.

Risks associated with drilling and production could render mining projects economically unfeasible.

Once mineral deposits are discovered, it can take a number of years from the initial phase of drilling until production is possible, during which time the economic feasibility of production may change. Substantial time and expenditures are required to:

If a mining project proves to not be economically feasible by the time we are able to profit from it, we may incur substantial losses and be obliged to record write-offs. In addition, potential changes or complications involving metallurgical and other technological processes arising during the life of a project may result in delays and cost overruns that may render the project not economically feasible.

Our mineral reservereserves and mine life may prove inaccurate, market price fluctuations and cost changes may render certain ore reserves uneconomical to mine and we may face rising extraction costs or investment requirements over time as our reserves deplete.

Our reported ore reserves are estimated quantities of ore and minerals that we have determined can be economically mined and processed under present and anticipated conditions to extract their mineral content.

There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of reserves and in projecting potential future rates of mineral production, including many factors beyond our control. Reserve engineering involves estimating deposits of minerals that cannot be measured in an exact manner, and the accuracy of any reserve estimate is a function of the quality of available data and engineering and geological interpretation and judgment. As a result, no assurance can be given that the indicated amount of ore will be recovered or that it will be recovered at the rates we anticipate. Estimates of different engineers may vary, and results of our mining production subsequent to the date of an estimate may lead to revision of estimates. Reserve estimates and estimates of mine life may require revision based on actual production experience and other factors. For example, fluctuations in the market prices of minerals and metals, reduced recovery rates or increased operating and capital costs due to inflation, exchange rates or other factors may render proven and probable reserves uneconomic to exploit and may ultimately result in a restatement of reserves.

In addition, reserves are gradually depleted in the ordinary course of our exploration activities. As mining progresses, distances to the primary crusher and to waste deposits becomes longer and pits become steeper. Also, for some types of reserves, mineralization grade decreases and hardness increases at increased depths. As a result, over time we may experience rising unit extraction costs with respect to each mine, or we may need to make additional investments, including adaptation or construction of processing plants and expansion of our dry tailings processes. Our exploration programs may also fail to result in the expansion or replacement of reserves depleted by current production. If we do not enhance existing reserves or develop new operations, we may not be able to sustain our current level of production beyond the remaining lives of our existing mines. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—4B. Business Overview—Our Mining Segment—Mineral Reserve.”

Our subsidiary CSN Mineração intends to invest in the increase of the total iron ore processing capacity of its facilities and it may not necessarily complete these investments as planned and/or effectively achieve the production volume corresponding to the planned total iron ore processing capacity.

Our subsidiary CSN Mineração included in its business plan certain investments to increase its iron ore processing capacity in the medium and long term. The expansion of its production capacity involves significant investment and expenses and may not result in the effective expansion of its iron ore production, which depends on other additional factors, including the expansion of its mineral reserves. Moreover, these investments to increase its processing capacity are subject to numerous risks inherent to mining projects.

CSN Mineração has planned investments for the expansion of its iron ore processing capacity from 33 million tons per year in 2021 to up to 108 million tons per year by 2033. However, theseThese numbers do not represent expected production volumes, but rather the limit of production capacity of itsCSN Mineração’s facilities following the implementation in full of its current business plan.plan – not its production volume. We can provide no assurances that CSN Mineração’s production volume will effectively reach 108 million tons per year by 2033.

If CSN Mineração is unable to transform its iron ore processing capacity into effective iron ore production, it may not obtain the expected return on investments made, which may adversely affect us.

Natural and other disasters, or extreme weather conditions, could disrupt our operations. 

Extreme weather conditions, such as heavy rainfall or flooding, could reduce the available supply of our raw materials and increase our raw materials costs, as well as delay and otherwise disrupt our operations, including relating to logistics. Additionally, we are subject to technical or physical risks including fire, power loss, water supply loss, leakages, accidents and failures in telecommunications and information technology systems, whether resulting from natural or other disasters or otherwise, any of which could disrupt our operations.

We may not be able to consummate proposed acquisitions or integrate acquired businesses successfully.

From time to time, we may evaluate acquisition opportunities that would strategically fit our business objectives. If we are unable to consummate acquisitions or to integrate them successfully and develop these businesses to realize revenue growth and cost savings, we could be adversely affected. Acquisitions also pose the risk that we may be exposed to successor liability involving an acquired company. Due diligence conducted in connection with an acquisition, and any contractual guarantees or indemnities that we receive, may not be sufficient to protect us from, or compensate us for, actual liabilities. A material liability associated with an acquisition, including related to labor or environmental matters, could adversely affect us and reduce the expected and bargained-for benefits of the acquisition.

In addition, we may incur asset impairment charges related to acquisitions, which may reduce our profitability. Our acquisition activities may also present financial, managerial and operational risks, including diversion of management attention from existing core businesses, difficulties integrating or separating personnel, financial and other systems, failure to achieve the operational benefits that were anticipated at the time of the transaction, adverse effects on existing business relationships with suppliers and customers, inaccurate estimates of fair value made in the accounting for acquisitions and/or amortization of acquired intangible assets which would reduce future reported earnings, potential loss of customers or key employees of acquired businesses and indemnities and potential disputes with buyers or sellers. Finally, proposed acquisitions may also be subject to review from the antitrust authorities in the countries involved in the transaction, which may approve the transaction, do so subject to restrictions, including the divestment of assets, or reject it. Any of these developments or adverse regulatory decisions could adversely affect us.

We may not be able to maintain adequate liquidity and our cash flows from operations and available capital may not be sufficient to meet our obligations.

While our cash flows from operations and available capital have been sufficient to meet our current operating expenses, contractual obligations and debt service requirements to date, our liquidity, cash flows from operations and available capital may be adversely affected by the pricing environment for our products, the exchange rate environment and the effects of weak macroeconomic conditions in Brazil. We are considering certain measures to improve our liquidity and debt profile, including the potential sale of certain assets. In addition, we are negotiating the extension of certain of our credit facilities. If we are unable to successfully sell certain assets and/or extend our debt amortization profile, we may not be able to maintain adequate liquidity and our cash flows from operations and available capital may not be sufficient to meet our obligations.

We have experienced labor disputes in the past that have disrupted our operations, and such disputes may recur.

A substantial number of our employees and some of the employees of our subcontractors are represented by labor unions and are covered by collective bargaining or other labor agreements, which are subject to periodic renegotiation. Strikes and other labor disruptions at any of our facilities or labor disruptions involving third parties who may provide us with goods or services have in the past and may in the future materially and adversely affect the operations of our facilities and/or the timing of completion and the cost of our projects.

We are exposed to the risks of litigation.

We are and may be a party to legal proceedings and judicial, administrative or arbitration claims. For certain of these legal proceedings and claims, we have not established a provision on our balance sheet or have only established provisions for part of the amounts in question, based on our external or internal counsels’ judgment as to the likelihood of an outcome unfavorable to us. Although we are contesting existing proceedings and claims, the outcome of each specific proceeding and claim is uncertain and may result in obligations that could materially and adversely affect us. In addition, certain judicial or administrative proceedings may adversely affect our shareholders and holders of the ADSs, specifically their receipt of dividends.

The outbreak of communicable diseases such as the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic may affect investment sentiment, cause operational disruptions and result in sporadic volatility in global markets.

The outbreak of communicable diseases such as the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic may affect investment sentiment, cause operational disruptions and result in volatility in global markets, which may materially and adversely affect our customers, our suppliers and us. Quarantines and government measures may restrict certain economic activities in affected regions globally, including Brazil, resulting in reduced business volume, disrupted production and operations and temporary closures of our or other companies’ facilities.

There remains uncertainty regarding the duration of disruptions deriving from the COVID-19 pandemic, including variants of the virus, the extent of government intervention or other measures and economic effects on the stock market, foreign exchange rates, unemployment rates, interest rates and otherwise. The extent to which the COVID-19 global pandemic will affect us depends on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted as of the date of this annual report.

The effect of any discontinuation or replacement of the LIBOR may adversely affect us.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced in July 2017 that it intends towould no longer compel banks to submit rates for the calculation of the London interbank offered rate, or LIBOR, after 2021. To mitigate any possible impact, various regulators have proposed alternative reference rates. As of December 31, 2020,2021, we had R$3,2475,450 million of LIBOR-indexed financings maturing after 2021.beginning in 2022. We cannot predict the effect of any discontinuation or replacement of the LIBOR at this time and, consequently, we cannot assure you that these changes will not have an adverse effect on us.

Risks Relating to Our Common Shares and the ADSs

Our controlling shareholder has the ability to direct our business and affairs and its interests could conflict with yours.

Our controlling shareholder has the power to, among other things, elect a majority of our directors and determine the outcome of any action requiring shareholder approval, including transactions with related parties, corporate reorganizations, acquisitions, dispositions, the destination and diversification of our investments and

the timing and payment of any future dividends, subject to minimum dividend payment requirements imposed by Brazilian Corporate Law. Our controlling shareholder may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, dispositions, financings or other transactions that could conflict with your interests as a holder of our common shares or the ADSs. In addition, the interests of the members of our controlling family have not always been aligned and any conflicts that may arise may adversely affect us.

If you surrender ADSs and withdraw common shares, you risk forfeiting Brazilian tax advantages and losing the ability to timely remit foreign currency abroad.

As an ADS holder, you benefit from the electronic certificate of foreign capital registration obtained by the custodian for our common shares underlying the ADSs in Brazil, which allows the custodian to convert dividends and other distributions with respect to our common shares into non-Brazilian currency and remit the proceeds abroad. Pursuant to Resolution No. 4,373, dated September 29, 2014, of the Brazilian National Monetary Council (Conselho Monetário Nacional), or the CMN, in order for an investor to surrender ADSs for the purpose of withdrawing the common shares represented thereby and be entitled to trade the underlying common shares directly on the B3 S.A. – Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão, or the B3, the investor is required to appoint a Brazilian financial institution duly authorized by the Central Bank and the CVM to act as its legal representative, who is responsible, among other things, for keeping and updating the investors’ certificates of registration with the Central Bank. If you surrender ADSs and withdraw common shares, you may be subject to a less favorable tax treatment on gains with respect to these investments. Moreover, if your representative fails to obtain or update the relevant certificates of registration, you may incur in additional expenses or be subject to operational delays which could affect your ability to receive dividends or distributions relating to our common shares or the return of your capital in a timely manner. The custodian’s certificate of registration or any foreign capital registration directly obtained by you may be affected by future legislative or regulatory changes, and we cannot assure you that additional restrictions applicable to you, the disposition of the underlying common shares or the repatriation of the proceeds from the process will not be imposed in the future. For a more complete description of Brazilian tax regulations, including any potential risks regarding the possibility that the sale or disposition of ADSs by a Non-Brazilian Holder may be subject to capital gains tax in Brazil, see “Item 10. Additional Information—10E. Taxation—Brazilian Tax Considerations.”

Holders of ADSs may not be able to exercise their voting rights.

Holders of ADSs may only exercise their voting rights with respect to the underlying common shares in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. Under the deposit agreement, ADS holders must vote by giving voting instructions to the depositary. Upon receipt of the voting instructions of the ADS holder, the depositary will vote the underlying common shares in accordance with these instructions. If we ask for voting instructions, the depositary will notify ADS holders of the upcoming vote and will arrange to deliver the proxy card. We cannot assure that ADS holders will receive the proxy card in time to ensure that they can instruct the depositary to vote. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not liable for failing to carry out voting instructions or for the manner in which they do so. Alternatively, ADS holders can exercise their right to vote by surrendering their ADSs for cancellation in exchange for our common shares. Pursuant to applicable Brazilian law, companies that issue ADSs must publish the first call for a shareholders’ meeting at least 30 days in advance of the meeting, and the second call must be published at least eight days in advance of the meeting. When a shareholders’ meeting is convened, holders of ADSs may not receive sufficient advance notice to surrender their ADSs in exchange for the underlying common shares in time to allow them to vote with respect to any specific matter. As a result, holders of ADSs may not be able to exercise their voting rights.

The relative volatility and illiquidity of the Brazilian securities markets may substantially limit your ability to sell the common shares underlying the ADSs at the price and time you desire.

Investing in securities that trade in emerging markets, such as Brazil, often involves greater risk than investing in securities of issuers in the United States and other developed countries, and such investments are generally considered to be more speculative in nature. The Brazilian securities market is substantially smaller, less liquid, more concentrated and can be more volatile than major securities markets in the United States and other developed countries. There is also significantly greater concentration in the Brazilian securities market than in major securities markets in the United States and other developed countries. The ten largest companies in terms of market capitalization represented 48.1%48.7% of the aggregate market capitalization of the B3 as of December 31, 2020.2021. Although you are entitled to withdraw the common shares underlying the ADSs from the depositary at any time, your ability to sell the common shares underlying the ADSs at the price and time you wish may be substantially limited.

Holders of ADSs may be unable to exercise preemptive rights with respect to our common shares.

We may not be able to offer our common shares to U.S. holders of ADSs pursuant to preemptive rights granted to holders of our common shares in connection with any future issuance of our common shares unless a registration statement under the Securities Act is effective with respect to such common shares and preemptive rights, or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act is available. We are not obligated to file a registration statement relating to preemptive rights with respect to our common shares or to undertake steps that may be needed to find available exemptions from registration, and we cannot assure you that we will file any such registration statement or take any such steps. If such a registration statement is not filed and an exemption from registration is not available the depositary of the ADSs may attempt to sell the preemptive rights, and you will be entitled to receive the proceeds of such sale. However, these preemptive rights will expire if the depositary does not sell them, and U.S. holders of ADSs will not realize any value from the granting of such preemptive rights. For a more complete description of preemptive rights, see “Item 10. Additional Information—10B. Memorandum and Articles of Association—Description of Capital Stock––Preemptive Rights.”

A decrease in our market capitalization may increase volatility in the trading price of our common shares and the ADSs.

In recent years, our market capitalization has been volatile, resulting in increased volatility in the trading price of our common shares and the ADSs. Any decrease in our market capitalization may further increase this volatility. If the trading price of the ADSs drops below the levels required by the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange, or the NYSE, we may be required to do a reverse stock split or a ratio change of the number of common shares per ADS in order to regain compliance with the NYSE’s listing standards.

The trading price of the ADSs increaseddecreased in 20202021 and, as of December 31, 2020,2021, presented a variation of 74.9%(27)% as compared to their trading price as of December 31, 2019.2020.

Item 4. Information on the Company

4A. History and Development of the Company

Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional is a Brazilian corporation (sociedade por ações) incorporated in 1941 pursuant to a decree of Brazilian president Getulio Vargas. The Presidente Vargas Steelworks, located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, began its production of coke, pig iron and steel products in 1946, when we also incorporated the Casa de Pedra mine, located in the city of Congonhas, state of Minas Gerais, and the Arcos mine, located in the city of Arcos, state of Minas Gerais. The Casa de Pedra mine assures us self-sufficiency in iron ore and the Arcos mine provides limestone and dolomite.

We were privatized through a series of auctions held in 1993 and early 1994, through which the Brazilian government sold its 91% ownership interest.

Between 1993 and 2002, we implemented a capital improvement program aimed at increasing our annual production of crude steel, improving the quality of our products, and enhancing our environmental protection and cleanup programs. As part of these investments, since February 1996, all our production involves continuous casting, which requires lower energy use and results in decreased metal loss as compared to ingot casting. From 1996 until 2002, we invested the equivalent of US$2.4 billion in our capital improvement program and on maintaining our operational capacity, culminating with the renovation of our blast furnace no. 3 at the President Vargas Steelworks and Hot Strip Mill No. 2 in 2001.

In 2007, we started to sell iron ore in the seaborne market. Today, we, through our subsidiary CSN Mineração, are an important exporter of iron ore, drawing from the high qualityhigh-quality iron ore reserves in the Casa de Pedra and Engenho mines, located in the state of Minas Gerais. CSN Mineração holds the concession to operate the Terminal de Carvão, or TECAR, a solid bulks terminal located in Itaguaí Port in the state of Rio de Janeiro, through which CSN Mineração exports iron ore and imports coal and coke.

In 2009, we entered the cement market with our first grinding mill, next to the Presidente Vargas Steelworks in Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, taking advantage of the synergies of the cement business with our steel business.

In order to diversify our product portfolio, we entered the long steel market in 2012, with the acquisition of Stahlwerk Thüringen Gmbh, or SWT, a long steel manufacturer located in Unterwellenborn, Germany.

In addition, we installed a new plant for production of long steel products at Volta Redonda, which began operations in December 2013. The plant consists of an electric arc steelmaking furnace, continuous casting for

billets and a hot rolling mill for round section long products. This plant provides the domestic Brazilian market with rebar for civil construction and wire rod for industrial and civil construction.

In 2015, we inaugurated two new grinding mills and, in 2016, we concluded a new 6,500 tons per day kiln line, reaching an aggregate annual capacity of 4.7 million tons in our cement plants.

In June 2018, we sold Heartland Steel Processing, LLC (formerly Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, LLC) to Steel Dynamics, Inc. for US$400.0 million. We continue our commercial import and distribution activities in the North American market through our U.S. subsidiary Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, LLC.

In 2019, investments of approximately R$250.0 million in the maintenance of blast furnace no. 3 increased its steel production capacity by 500,000 tons per year.

In 2020, we invested R$848.0 million in our steel segment, R$710.0 million in our mining segment and approximately R$140.0 million in our other segments. In early 2021, CSN Mineração completed its initial public offering, and its shares are now traded on the B3.

In 2021, we reached historically high net revenue and EBITDA and announced our acquisitions of Elizabeth Cimentos S.A. and Elizabeth Mineração Ltda., which operate in the Northeast region of Brazil, and LafargeHolcim (Brasil) S.A. (the latter, as of the date of this annual report, has its shares traded onpending approval by the B3.Brazilian antitrust authority (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica), or CADE). With these acquisitions, we will be the second largest cement producer in Brazil, with a total installed capacity of 16.3 million tons per year. In addition, we announced the acquisition of Metalgráfica Iguaçu S.A., which, operating in Ponta Grossa, in the state of Paraná, and Goiânia, in the state of Goiás, produces steel cans for the national and international market of metal food packaging, as a strategic step to expand the production capacity of our packaging division. This acquisition was approved by CADE in April 2022 and we expect closing to occur by the end of the first half of 2022.

General

We are one of the largest fully integrated steel producers in Brazil and Latin America in terms of crude steel production. We operate throughout the entire steel production chain, from the mining of iron ore to the production and sale of a diversified range of high value-added steel products. We divide our business into five segments: steel, mining, cement, logistics and energy.

Steel

Our steel segment comprises a portfolio of diverse products and provides us an international footprint by means of our international subsidiaries and our exports from Brazil. In our flat steel segment, we are an almost fully integrated steelmaker. Our main industrial facility, Presidente Vargas Steelworks, produces a broad line of steel products, including slabs, hot and cold-rolled, galvanized and tin mill products for the distribution, packaging, automotive, home appliance and construction industries.

Our production process is based on the integrated steelworks concept. Our current annual crude steel capacity and rolled product capacity at Presidente Vargas Steelworks is, in each case, 5.6 million tons.

We obtain all of our iron ore (except for pellets), limestone and dolomite requirements, and a portion of our tin requirements, from our own mines. Using imported coal, we produce approximately 55% of our coke requirements at current production levels in our own coke batteries at Volta Redonda. Imported coal is also pulverized and used directly in the pig iron production process. Zinc, manganese ore, aluminum and a portion of our tin requirements are purchased in local markets. Our steel production and distribution processes also require water, industrial gases, electricity, rail and road transportation and port facilities.

In addition to the production of flat steel, we operate in the long steel segment through SWT in Germany, with annual production capacity of approximately 1.1 million tons of steel sections.

We own and operate a plant in Volta Redonda for production of long steel products. The plant consists of an electric arc steelmaking furnace, continuous casting for billets and a hot rolling mill for round section long products – wire rod and rebar.

Mining Activities

We own a number of high quality iron ore mines, strategically located within Brazil’s “Iron Ore Quadrangle” (Quadrilátero Ferrífero) in the state of Minas Gerais, including the Casa de Pedra and Engenho mines, located in the city of Congonhas, pertaining to our subsidiary CSN Mineração, and the Fernandinho mines, located in the city of Itabirito, and the Cayman and Pedras Pretas mining rights, located in the city of Rio

Acima and Congonhas, respectively, pertaining to our wholly owned subsidiary Minérios Nacional S.A., or Minérios Nacional.

Our mining assets also include (i) the solid bulks cargo terminal TECAR, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which pertains to CSN Mineração; (ii) the Bocaina mines, located in the city of Arcos, in the state of Minas Gerais, which produce dolomite and limestone; and (iii) Estanho de Rondônia S.A., or ERSA, located in the city of Ariquemes, in the state of Rondônia, which mines and casts tin.

We sold 29.6 million tons, 34.9 million tons, 26.9 million tons and 26.928.3 million tons of iron ore to third parties in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2020,2021, respectively.

Logistics

Our vertical integration strategy and the synergies among our business units are strongly dependent on the logistics needed to guarantee the transportation of inputs at low cost. A number of railways and port terminals comprise the logistics system that integrates our mining, steelmaking and cement units.

We operate a port terminal for containers, TECON at Itaguaí Port, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and CSN Mineração operates TECAR.

We also have the following participation in three railways: (i) we share control in MRS, which operates in the Southeast region of the federal railway system, along the Rio de Janeiro – São Paulo – Belo Horizonte axis; (ii) we have an interest in joint venture TLSA, which has a concession to construct and operate the Northeastern Railway System II; and (iii) we control Ferrovia Transnordestina Logística S.A., or FTL, which operates the Northeastern Railway System I.

Cement

We entered the cement market in 2009 in order to take advantage of the synergy potential with our steelmaking business. Our cement operations use as inputs slag generated by our blast furnaces at Volta Redonda and limestone from our limestone reserves in our Bocaina mines, which is used to produce clinker. Slag and clinker are the main inputs in cement production.

In 2015, we inaugurated two grinding mills and, in 2016, we concluded a new kiln line with a capacity of 6,500 tons per day, reaching an aggregate capacity of 4.7 million tons per year of cement production considering our Volta Redonda and Arcos plants. We plan to increase

In August 2021, our market sharecement subsidiary, CSN Cimentos S.A., or CSN Cimentos, acquired Elizabeth Cimentos S.A. and Elizabeth Mineração Ltda., which operate in the Northeast region of Brazil. This acquisition increased our cement segmentproduction capacity by 1.3 million tons, from 4.7 million tons to 6.0 million tons.

In September 2021, our cement subsidiary, CSN Cimentos, entered into a share purchase and sale agreement to acquire the entirety of LafargeHolcim (Brasil) S.A., at a base value of US$1,025.0 million, subject to certain price adjustments. This acquisition, once consummated, will add 10.3 million tons of cement per year to our production capacity, bringing our total production capacity to 16.3 million tons of cement per year, by means of plants strategically located in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest regions of Brazil, in orderas well as substantial high-quality limestone reserves. As of the date of this annual report, the consummation of this acquisition remains subject to diversify our product mix and markets, which will allow us to reduce our risk exposure.approval by CADE.

Electricity

Steelmaking requires significant amounts of electricity to power rolling mills, production lines, hot metal processing, coking plants, cryogenic plant and auxiliary units. In 2019,2021, our Presidente Vargas Steelworks consumed approximately 2.82.4 million MWsMWhs of electricelectrical energy.

Our main source of electricity is our thermoelectric co-generation power plant at the Presidente Vargas Steelworks, which is fueled by gas from the steel production process, with 235267 MW of installed capacity.

In addition, we hold a 29.5%29.50% equity interest in the Itá hydroelectric facility in the state of Santa Catarina, through a 48.75% equity interest in ITASA and a 17.9%17.92% equity interest in the Igarapava hydroelectric facility. Through these equity interests, we have secured 188an average of 185 MW in annual power supply for our operations under power purchase agreements at a fixed price per MW hour, adjusted annually according to ITASA’s board decision. At the end of 2021, ITASA’s board of directors decided it would not implement any price adjustments for inflation.

In 2014, we installed a new turbine generator at the Presidente Vargas Steelworks, which added 21 MW to our existing installed capacity. This turbine is located near our blast furnace and uses outlet gas from our iron production to generate energy.2022.

Recent Developments

Debt ReprofilingNew Notes Issuance and Concurrent Tender Offer

In January 2021,February 2022, we reprofiledissued US$265500.0 million in aggregate principal amount of export prepayments,5.875% senior notes due 2032, through CSN Resources S.A., our Luxembourg finance subsidiary, CSN Resources S.A. We used a portion of whichthe proceeds from this issuance to purchase US$79 million, originally scheduled to mature in 2022, was extended to 2023. In addition, we amortized R$315 million in aggregate principal amount of export credit notes scheduled to mature in 2021. 

In February 2021, we repurchased and cancelled R$391300.0 million in aggregate principal amount of outstanding debentures.7.625% senior notes due 2026 pursuant to a concurrent tender offer.

Drop-downCSN Cimentos’ Approval of Cement SegmentDebentures

In January 2021, we completed a drop-down of our cement segment, comprising all its assets and liabilities, to our subsidiaryMarch 3, 2022, CSN Cimentos S.A.issued R$1,200.0 million in aggregate principal amount of non-convertible debentures that underlie real estate receivables certificates (certificados de recebíveis imobiliários), or CRI, issued by Virgo Companhia de Securitização. Upon issuance, Virgo Companhia de Securitização subscribed all debentures and issued real estate receivables certificates to investors, which receivables will be paid by funds from CSN Cimentos’ payments on the debentures.

Initial Public OfferingAcquisitions of CSN MineraçãoSanta Ana Energética S.A. and Topázio Energética S.A.

In February 2021,April 2022, CSN Mineração completedCimentos and CSN Energia entered into a share purchase and sale agreement to acquire the entirety of the shares issued by Santa Ana Energética S.A., which holds the concession for the hydroelectric power plant of Santa Ana, and Topázio Energética S.A., which holds, through its initial public offering, as partsubsidiary Brasil Central Energia Ltda., the concession for the hydroelectric power plant of which we sold 327,593,584 common shares that we held in the company, followed by 50,211,323 additional common shares in March 2021, representing, in the aggregate, 377,804,907 common shares and 9.3% of our total stake, at R$8.50 per common share, in the total amount of R$3,211.4 million. Our participation in the capital stock of CSN Mineração was diluted from 87.5% to, asSacre II. As of the date of this annual report, 78.2%.this acquisition is pending approval by CADE.

Dividends

In April 2022, our annual shareholders’ meeting approved a distribution of R$904 million in mandatory minimum dividends and CSN Mineração also issued 161,189,078 new common shares and raisedo’s annual shareholders’ meeting approved a distribution of R$1,346.12,520 million in net proceeds, which willadditional dividends, in each case to be used to execute its expansion projects, as described in “—4B. Business Overview—Our Mining Segment—Expanding our Mining Capacity.”paid by December 31, 2022.

Other Information

Our legal and commercial name is Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional. We are organized under the laws of the Federative Republic of Brazil with head offices located at Av. Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 3400, 19^th and 20^th floors, Itaim Bibi, São Paulo, Brazil, CEP 04538-132, and our telephone number is +55 (11) 3049-7100. Our agent for service of process in the United States is Cogency Global Inc., located at 10 E. 40^th Street, 10^th Floor, New York, New York 10016. Our website is www.csn.com.br. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC, including our filings, at http://www.sec.gov.

4B. Business Overview

Competitive Strengths

We believe that we have the following competitive strengths:

Integrated business model. We are a highly integrated steelmaker and we believe this integration supports resilient and profitable operations. Our integrated business model comprises our captive sources of raw materials, principally iron ore, and our infrastructure, including railways and deep-water port facilities. In terms of raw materials, we own a number of high-quality iron ore mines, strategically located within Brazil’s “Iron Ore Quadrangle”, which distinguishes us from our main competitors in Brazil who are required to purchase all or a portion of their iron ore from mining companies.

Profitable mining business. We have invested significantly in our mining business, placing us in a prominent position among the world’s leading iron ore players. Further mining expansions will enable us to expand our product portfolio and total output, increasing our presence in seaborne markets.

We have high-quality iron ore reserves in Casa de Pedra, Engenho, Fernandinho and other mines, all located in the state of Minas Gerais. Our mining activities are an important contributor to our EBITDA. We sold 34.8 million tons in 2018, 38.5 million tons in 2019, and 31.2 million tons in 2020 and 33.2 million tons in 2021 of iron ore. Our mining business also includes TECAR, a solid bulks terminal at Itaguaí Port in the state of Rio de Janeiro, with a capacity to handle 660,000 TEUs(i) shipments of 45 million tons per year of iron ore and (ii) landings of 4.0 million tons per year and the Bocaina mine, located in the city of Arcos in the state of Minas Gerais, which produces dolomite and limestone, as well as our subsidiary ERSA, which mines and casts tin.

Thoroughly developed transport infrastructure. We have a thoroughly developed transport infrastructure, connecting our iron ore mines to our steel mills and to the port terminals we operate. Our Presidente Vargas Steelworks facility is located next to railway and port systems, which facilitates its supply of raw materials, product shipments and access to our main customers. Our steelworks are close to the main steel consumer

centers in Brazil, with easy access to port facilities and railways. The concession for the main railway we use and operate is owned by MRS, in which we hold, directly and indirectly, as of December 31, 2021, a total of 34.94% (or 37.27% before non-controlling interest) ownership interest. The railway connects our Casa de Pedra mine to the Presidente Vargas Steelworks and to our terminals at Itaguaí Port, which handle our iron ore exports and most of our steel exports, as well as our imports of coal and metallurgical coke.

Energy generation. We generate power through our hydroelectric facilities of Itá and Igarapava, as well as our thermoelectric plant located inside Presidente Vargas Steelworks, which allow us to benefit from reduced energy tariffs. We sell excess energy we generate in the energy market on a spot basis. Our 235 MW thermoelectric cogeneration plant providescan provide Presidente Vargas Steelworks with approximately 60% of its energy needs for its steel mills, and uses as its primary fuel the waste gases generated by our coke ovens, blast furnaces and steel processing facilities. We hold a 29.5%29.50% equity interest in the Itá hydroelectric facility in the state of Santa Catarina, through a 48.75% equity interest in ITASA, and a 17.9%17.92% equity interest in the Igarapava hydroelectric facility. Through these equity interests, we have secured 188an average of 185 MW in annual power supply for our operations under power purchase agreements at a fixed price per MW hour, adjusted annually according to ITASA’s board decision. At the end of 2021, ITASA’s board of directors decided it would not implement any price adjustments for inflation.2022.

Low cost structure. As a result of our fully integrated business model, our thoroughly developed transportation infrastructure and our energy generation, we have been consistently generating high margins compared to peer companies in both the steel and mining segments. Other factors that lead to our low costlow-cost structure include the strategic location of our steelworks facility along with our low-cost, skilled workforce.

Diverse product portfolio and product mix. We have a diversified flat steel product mix that includes hot-rolled, cold-rolled, galvanized and steel tin mill products, in order to meet a wide range of customer needs across all steel-consuming industries. We focus on selling high-margin products, including tin-coated, pre-painted, galvalume and galvanized products. Our galvanized products provide material for exposed auto parts, using hot-dip galvanized steel and laser-welded blanks. Our CSN Paraná branch provides us with additional capacity to produce high-quality galvanized, galvalume and pre-painted steel products for the construction and home appliance industries. In addition, our distribution subsidiary, Prada, provides a strong sales channel in the domestic market, enabling us to meet demand from smaller customers and to establish an important presence in this market.

Strong presence in domestic market and strategic international exposure for steel products. We have a strong presence in the Brazilian market for steel products, with a market share in 2021 of approximately 28%25.3% of the domestic flat steel market. In addition, through our international subsidiaries, we sell our flat steel products in the United States and in Europe, which aggregate sales accounted for approximately 12%28.5% of our total flat steel sales in 2020.2021. In 2012, we acquired SWT, a long steel producer in Germany with annual production capacity of approximately 1.1 million tons of steel profiles, strengthening our steel products mix and geographical diversification. In 2020,2021, SWT accounted for 16.2%16.1% of our total sales, representing 755,000740,000 tons.

Our Strategies

Our goal is to make the most of our high-quality product portfolio, low costlow-cost production and diverse consumer market to preserve our position as one of the world’s lowest-cost steel producers and as a global player in the mining of iron ore, increase our cement segment’s market share and optimize our infrastructure assets, including ports, railways and power generating plants, which support our high integration and low cost structure. To achieve these goals, we have developed specific strategies for each of our business segments, as described below.

Steel

The strategy for our steel business comprises:

Mining

In order to strengthen our position in the iron ore market, we plan to invest in our mining assets, including through CSN Mineração, to generate low operational costs and long-term growth opportunities.

In the coming years, we expect to reach an annual shipment level of over 60 million tons per year of iron ore products, including third party products, by increasing mine capacities, including Casa de Pedra, and developing export services for third party producers. In the short-term, considering recent price appreciation in the global iron ore market, our focus is to export high-quality iron ore at optimal margins without affecting the balance of supply and demand in the transoceanic market. To sustain this growth, we plan to increase TECAR’s capacity from 45 million tons per year in 2021 to 60 million tons per year.year in 2025.

This expansion will be funded by CSN Mineração’s issuance of debentures in August 2021 (see “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—5B. Liquidity and Capital Resources—Sources of Funds and Working Capital—Debt Maturity Profile”) and future issuances of debentures or other debt instruments.

To maximize the profitability of our product portfolio, we are focused on increasing our output of high qualityhigh-quality pellet feed with Itabirito’sItabirite deposits and investing with strategic partners and customers in providing pellet feed to pellet producers.

Logistics

We expect to expand our logistics capabilities, which comprise our integrated infrastructure operations of railways and ports, in order to increase the transportation efficiency of both our incoming raw materials and distributed products. We will continue to improve our product delivery in the Brazilian market (mainly steel and cement) by implementing low-cost measures, increasing our use of rail transportation and providing more distribution centers to reach end-customers.

In addition to our bulk terminal TECAR, our TECON container terminal has a capacity of 440,000 containers660,000 TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) per year.

In terms of railways, we are developing the Transnordestina Logística project, which focuses on iron ore, agricultural commodities, gypsum and fuel. We also plan to invest in increased efficiency and capacity in the South of Brazil through our participation in MRS. Because MRS will primarily use its own operating income and other funding strategies to invest in its expansion projects, these investments will not require material capital expenditures by us.

Cement

Our cement business strategy involves the use of the limestone reserves in our Bocaina mines and the slag generated by our blast furnaces at Volta Redonda. Our first cement grinding mill was inaugurated in 2009, with a capacity to produce 2.4 million tons per year. In 2011, we began producing clinker in the Arcos plant, which provided lower production costs. In 2015, we inaugurated two grinding mills, and in 2016, we concluded a new kiln line with a capacity of 6,500 tons per day, reaching an aggregate capacity of 4.7 million tons per year. We plan to focus on the expansion of our cement business through increased production by means of greenfield and brownfield projects, as well as possible acquisition opportunities. The focus of our cement sales strategy is on the retail segment, which operates with a low level of inventory and for which our distribution centers provide a competitive advantage.

In August 2021, our cement subsidiary, CSN Cimentos, acquired Elizabeth Cimentos S.A. and Elizabeth Mineração Ltda., which operate in the Northeast region of Brazil. This acquisition increased our cement production capacity by 1.3 million tons, from 4.7 million tons to 6.0 million tons.

In September 2021, CSN Cimentos entered into a share purchase and sale agreement to acquire the entirety of LafargeHolcim (Brasil) S.A., at a base value of US$1,025.0 million, subject to certain price adjustments. This acquisition, once consummated, will add 10.3 million tons of cement per year to our production capacity, bringing our total production capacity to 16.3 million tons of cement per year, by means of plants strategically

located in the Southeast, Northeast and Midwest regions of Brazil, as well as substantial high-quality limestone reserves. As of the date of this annual report, the consummation of this acquisition remains subject to approval by CADE.

These acquisitions are part of our strategy of inorganic expansion of our cement operations, geographical diversification and consolidation as one of the largest players in the cement industry in Brazil.

Investments and Divestitures

In addition to our planned investments and capital expenditures, we continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities, as well as joint ventures and brownfield or greenfield projects, to improve our steel, cement and mining cost competitiveness and production, along with our logistics capabilities, logistics infrastructure and energy generation.

We also continue to evaluate business opportunities in order to improve our liquidity position in the short- to medium-term, including in the form of streaming transactions related to our iron ore business and the sale of our investment in Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais S.A., or Usiminas.

Description of our Operating Segments

Our Steel Segment

We produce carbon steel, which is the world’s most widely produced type of steel, representing the vast bulk of global consumption. From carbon steel, we sell a variety of products, both domestically and abroad, to manufacturers in several industries.

Flat Steel

Our Presidente Vargas Steelworks produces flat steel products, which comprise slabs, hot-rolled, cold-rolled, galvanized and tin mill products. For more information on our flat steel production process, see “—Production Output.”

Slabs

Slabs are semi-finished products used for processing hot-rolled, cold-rolled or coated coils and sheet products. We are able to produce continuously cast slabs with a standard thickness of 250 millimeters, widths ranging from 830 to 1,600 millimeters and lengths ranging from 5,250 to 10,500 millimeters. We produce high, medium and low carbon slabs, as well as micro-alloyed, ultra-low-carbon and interstitial free slabs. The slabs are then slit and finished, generating blooms which are delivered to the long products plant.

Hot-Rolled Products

Hot-rolled products include heavy and light-gauge hot-rolled coils and sheets. A heavy gauge hot-rolled product, as defined by Brazilian standards, is a flat-rolled steel coil or sheet with a minimum thickness of 5.01 millimeters. We are able to provide coils of heavy gauge hot-rolled sheet with a maximum thickness of 12.70 millimeters used to manufacture automobile parts, pipes, structural beams and other construction products. We produce light gauge hot-rolled coils and sheets with a minimum thickness of 1.20 millimeters, which are used for welded pipe and tubing, automobile parts, gas containers, compressor bodies and light cold-formed shapes, channels and profiles for the construction industry.

Cold-Rolled Products

Cold-rolled products include cold-rolled coils and sheets. A cold-rolled product, as defined by Brazilian standards, is a flat cold-rolled steel coil or sheet with thickness ranging from 0.30 millimeters to 3.00 millimeters. Cold-rolled products have more uniform thickness and better surface quality when compared to hot-rolled products and their main applications are automotive parts, home appliances and construction. We supply cold-rolled coils with thickness ranging from 0.30 millimeters to 2.99 millimeters.

Galvanized Products

Galvanized products are comprised of flat-rolled steel coated on one or both sides with zinc or a zinc-based alloy applied by either a hot-dip or an electrolytic process. We use the hot-dip process, which is approximately 20% less expensive than the electrolytic process. Galvanizing is one of the most effective and low-cost

processes used to protect steel against corrosion caused by exposure to water and the atmosphere. Galvanized products are highly versatile and can be used to manufacture a broad range of products, such as:

Galvanized sheets, both painted and bare, are also frequently used for gutters and downspouts, outdoor and indoor cabinets and home appliances, among others. We produce galvanized sheets and coils in continuous hot-dip processing lines, with thickness ranging from 0.30 millimeters to 3.00 millimeters. The continuous process allows for products with highly adherent and uniform zinc coatings capable of being processed in nearly all kinds of bending and forming machinery.

We produce Galvanew® in addition to standard galvanized products. Galvanew® is produced by an additional annealing cycle just after the zinc hot-dip coating process. This annealing process causes iron to diffuse from the base steel into the zinc coating. The resulting iron-zinc alloy coating allows better welding and paint performance. The combination of these qualities makes our Galvanew® product particularly well suited for manufacturing automobile and home appliance parts, including high gloss exposed parts.

At CSN Paraná, one of our branches, we produce Galvalume®, a continuous Al-Zn coated material. Although the production process is similar to hot-dip galvanized coating, Galvalume® has at least twice the corrosion resistance of standard galvanized steel. Galvalume® is primarily used in outdoor construction applications that may be exposed to severe acid corrosion, like marine uses.

The value added from the galvanizing process permits us to price our galvanized products with a higher margin. Our management believes that our expertise in value-added galvanized products presents one of our best opportunities for profitable growth because of the increase in Brazilian demand for these products.

Through CSN Paraná, we also produce pre-painted flat steel, which is manufactured in a continuous painting line. In this production line, a layer of resin-based paint in a choice of colors is deposited over either cold-rolled or galvanized base materials. Pre-painted material is a higher value-added product used primarily in the construction and home appliance markets.

Tin Mill Products

Tin mill products consist of flat-rolled low-carbon steel coils or sheets with, as defined by Brazilian standards, a maximum thickness of 0.45 millimeters, coated or uncoated. We apply coatings of tin or chromium by electrolytic process. Coating costs place tin mill products among our highest priced products. The added value from the coating process permits us to price our tin mill products at a higher margin. There are four types of tin mill products, all produced by us in coil and sheet forms:

Tin mill products are primarily used to make cans and other containers. With six electrolytic coating lines, we are one of the largest producers of tin mill products in the world and the sole producer of coated tin mill products in Brazil.

Quality Management System

We maintain a quality management system that is certified to comply with the International Standardization Organization, or ISO, 9001:2015 standard and the automotive industry’s Technical SpecificationInternational Automotive Task Force, or IATF, standard 16949:2016. ISO 9001:2015 is for the design and manufacture of slabs, blooms, billets, hot-rolled flat, pickled and oiled, cold-rolled and galvanized steel, tin mill products and long steel products; and IATF 16949:2016, third edition, is for the manufacture of hot-rolled flat, pickled and oiled steel products, cold-rolled and galvanized steel products. We maintain product certifications for hot-rolled steel in accordance with European Standards EN10025 and regulation (EU) no. 305/2011, CE Mark, and for the supply of steel wires and bars intended for reinforcing of concrete structures in accordance with applicable Brazilian regulation Portaria INMETRO N° 073 DE 17/03/10 and Portaria INMETRO N°003 DE 04/01/11.

In 2020, we made progress towards our goal to obtain a Global Food Safety Initiative, or GFSI, recognized certification, by achieving the GFSI Global Markets Program Basic level. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were subject to remote surveillance instead of the Global Markets Program Intermediate level on-site audit, and we achieved a result of “Passed”.

regulations.

Production Output

The following table sets forth the aggregate annual production of crude steel in Brazil and by us, and the percentage of Brazilian production attributable to us for the periods indicated:

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Source: Brazilian Steel Institute (Instituto Aço Brasil), or IABr.

The following table presents selected operating statistics for the periods indicated:

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Raw Materials and Suppliers

The main raw materials we use in our integrated steel mill include iron ore, coke, coal (from which we make coke), limestone, dolomite, aluminum, tin and zinc. In addition, our production operations consume water, gases, electricity and ancillary materials.

Iron Ore

We are able to obtain the majority of our iron ore requirements from our Casa de Pedra and Engenho mines located in the state of Minas Gerais. The only iron ore product that we buy from third parties is pellet. For more information, see “—Our Mining Segment.”

Coal

In 2020,2021, our metallurgical coal consumption was 1.55 million tons. Metallurgical coal includes coking coal and PCI coal, which is a lower grade coal injected into blast furnaces, in pulverized form, to reduce coke consumption. The PCI system reduces our need for imported coke, thereby reducing production costs. Our total PCI coal consumption in 20202021 was 0.460.56 million tons, all of which was imported. The sources of the hard coking coal consumed in our plants in 20202021 were: United States (67.2%(67.1%), Australia (19.8%(31.1%), Mozambique (6.4%(0.3%) and Canada (6.6%(1.4%); and for PCI, Russia (100.0%(98.2%) and Colombia (1.1%). We maintained a long-term contract for coal supply with a Russian company, pursuant to which all coal from Russia for our operations in 2022 has been in stock since the beginning of the year. As of the date of this annual report, we are seeking other coal supplier options.

Coke

In 2020,2021, in addition to the approximately 0.790.66 million tons of coke we produced, we also consumed 1.011.39 million tons of coke bought from third parties in China, Japan, India and Colombia, which represented an increase of 34.9%37.7% as compared to our consumption in 2019.2020.

Limestone and Dolomite

Our Bocaina Mine is located in the city of Arcos, in the state of Minas Gerais, and has been supplying, since the early 1970s, limestone (calcium carbonate) and dolomite (dolomitic limestone) to our Presidente Vargas Steelworks in Volta Redonda. These products are used in the process of sintering and calcination. Arcos has one of the largest and highest quality reserves of limestone in the world. Limestone is used in the production of various products, including clinker and cement.

The annual production of limestone and dolomite for our steelworks is approximately 5.35.9 million tons.

The main products obtained from limestone and dolomite that are transferred to our steelworks in Volta Redonda are:

The Bocaina Mine is also responsible for supplying limestone for cement manufacturing in Volta Redonda and Arcos.

Aluminum, Zinc and Tin

Aluminum is mostly used for steelmaking. Zinc and tin are important raw materials used in the production of certain higher-value steel products, such as galvanized and tin plate. We typically purchase aluminum and tin from third-party domestic suppliers and zinc from third-party domestic and international suppliers under annual contracts. We purchase part of our tin from our subsidiary ERSA. We maintain approximately 30, 2234, 21 and 2629 days’ inventory of tin, aluminum and zinc, respectively, at the Presidente Vargas Steelworks.

Other Raw Materials

In our production of steel, we consume, on an annual basis, significant amounts of spare parts, refractory bricks and lubricants, which we generally purchase from domestic suppliers.

We also consume significant amounts of oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, argon hydrogen and other gases at the Presidente Vargas Steelworks. These gases are supplied by a third-party under a long-term contract from gas production facilities located on the Presidente Vargas Steelworks site.

In 2020,2021, we used 664,147657,025 tons of oxygen 661,063 tons of nitrogen, 10,724 tons of argon and 5,423 million cubic meters of hydrogen in the Presidente Vargas Steelworks site.

Water

We require large quantities of water in the production of steel. Water serves as a solvent, a catalyst and a cleaning agent. It is also used to cool, carry waste, help produce and distribute heat and power and dilute liquids. Our source of water is the Paraíba do Sul River, which runs through the city of Volta Redonda. Over 93.6%93.8% of the water used in the steelmaking process is recirculated and the balance, after careful processing, is returned to the Paraíba do Sul River. Since March 2003, the Brazilian government has imposed a monthly tax for our use of water from the Paraíba do Sul River, based on an annual fee of approximately R$3.561.77 million.

Natural Gas

The market for natural gas is strongly correlated with the electricity market and we consume both natural gas and electricity, mainly in our hot strip mill. Naturgy (formerly Companhia Estadual de Gás do Rio de

Janeiro S.A.) is our major source of natural gas. To secure natural gas supply, we maintain a “take-or-pay” agreement with Naturgy, pursuant to which we committed to acquire at least 70% of the gas volume it provides. If we do not acquire this minimum volume, we may compensate the difference in amount paid in future years up to one year after the contract’s termination. In 2020,2021, the Presidente Vargas Steelworks consumed 411.16462.68 million cubic meters of natural gas.

Diesel Oil

In January 2017, we entered intoWe maintain agreements with Companhia Brasileira de Petróleo Ipiranga, or Ipiranga, to receive diesel oil in order to supply our equipment in our mining plants in the state of Minas Gerais, which provide the iron ore, dolomite and limestone used in our steel plant in Volta Redonda.

In 2020,2021, our diesel oil consumption was 40,54447,730 kiloliters, used to produce 21.928.1 million tons of iron ore, for which we paid R$138.9194.6 million. For more information, see “Item 3D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Us and the Industries in Which We Operate—We are exposed to substantial changes in commodities prices, including oil prices, which significantly affect the prices of our inputs and the prices of our products, and may adversely affect us.”

Suppliers

We acquire our inputs in Brazil and abroad. Aluminum, zinc, tin, spare parts, refractory bricks, lubricants, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and argon are the main inputs we acquire in Brazil. Coal and coke are the only inputs we acquire abroad.

In 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2020,2021, we consumed 19,477 tons, 678,118 tons, 75,971 tons and 75,971207,344 tons, respectively, of third party slabs.

OurFollowing are our main raw materials suppliers are set forth below:suppliers:

Flat Steel Mill

The Presidente Vargas Steelworks, located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, began operating in 1946. It is an integrated facility covering approximately four square km and containing five coke batteries, three of which are in operation, three sinter plants, two blast furnaces, a basic oxygen furnace steel shop, with three converters, three continuous casting units, one hot strip mill, three cold strip mills, two continuous pickling lines, one continuous annealing line, 28 batch annealing furnaces, fourthree continuous galvanizing lines, four continuous annealing lines exclusively for tin mill products, three of which are in operation, and six electrolytic tinning lines, three of which are in operation.

The annual production capacity of steel at the Presidente Vargas Steelworks is 5.2 million tons.

Downstream Facilities

CSN Paraná

Our CSN Paraná branch produces and supplies plain regular galvanized products, Galvalume®Galvalume® products and pre-painted steel products for the automotive, construction and home appliance industries. The plant has an annual capacity of 295,000 tons of galvanized products and Galvalume®Galvalume® products, 131,000 tons of pre-painted products, which can use cold-rolled or galvanized steel as substrate, service capacity of 150,000 tons of sheets and narrow strips, and 384,000 tons of pickled hot-rolled coils in excess of the coils required for the coating process.

CSN Porto Real

Our CSN Porto Real branch produces and supplies plain regular galvanized, Galvanew®Galvanew® and tailored blanks mainly for the automotive industry. The plant has an annual capacity of 350,000 tons of galvanized products, including Galvanew®Galvanew® products, and 354,000 tons of tailored blanks, sheets and narrow strips, which can use cold-rolled or galvanized steel as a substrate.

Companhia Metalúrgica Prada and Prada Distribuição

Established in 1936, Companhia Metalúrgica Prada is the largest Brazilian steel can manufacturer and has an annual production capacity of over one billion cans in its five industrial facilities located in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul and in the city of Brasília. We are the only Brazilian producer of tin plate, which is Companhia Metalúrgica Prada’s main raw material, making it one of our most important products. Companhia Metalúrgica Prada has important customers in the food and chemical industries, including packages of vegetables, fish, dairy products, meat, aerosols, infant nutrition and other business activities.

Prada Distribuição is one of the leaders in the Brazilian distribution market for steel products with 600,000 tons per year of installed processing capacity. Prada Distribuição has two steel service centers and three distribution centers strategically located in the Southeast region of Brazil. The service centers are located in the city of Mogi das Cruzes, in the state of São Paulo, and in the city of Valença, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Its product mix also includes sheets, slit coils, sections, tubes and roofing in standard or customized format, according to customers’ specifications. Prada Distribuição processes the entire range of products produced by us and services 4,000 customers annually from the civil construction, automotive and home appliances sectors, among others.

Lusosider Aços Planos, S.A.

Lusosider Aços Planos S.A., or Lusosider, is a flat steel processing facility located in Seixal, near Lisbon, Portugal. Lusosider has the capacity to produce approximately 105,000 tons of hot-rolled pickled coils, 36,000 tons of cold-rolled steel products and 276,000 tons of galvanized steel products per year. Its main customers include service centers and tube making industries.

CSN Distribuição

We have twoone service centers, onecenter, located in the city of Camaçari, in the state of Bahia, and the other in the city of Jaboatão dos Guararapes, in the state of Pernambuco, to support sales in the Northeastern and Northern regions of Brazil. We also have a distribution center in the city of Canoas, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, to support sales in the Southern region of Brazil.

CSN Cut and Bend

We have one service center, located in the city of Vargem Grande Paulista, in the state of São Paulo, to support sales in the Southeast region of Brazil.

SWT Long Steel Mill

In February 2012, we acquired SWT in Germany, which marked our entry into the long steel market. SWT specializes in the production of profiles, including IPE (European I Beams) and HE (European Wide Flange Beams) sections, channels and UPE (Channels with Parallel Flanges) sections and steel sleepers. In total, SWT produces more than 200 types of sections according to different German and international standards. The following table sets forth SWT’s production:

SWT possesses a 28 km internal railway system, as well as the logistics infrastructure to ensure supply of scrap and delivery of finished products. The main markets served by SWT include non-residential construction, equipment industries and engineering and transport, in Germany and in neighboring countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic. The following table sets forth SWT’s capacity:

Raw Materials

The main raw material we use in our long steel production is scrap. In addition, we require electricity, natural and technical gases and ancillary materials like ferroalloys, lime, dolomite and foaming coal.

Scrap

Our scrap consumption in 20202021 was 0.910.92 million tons, as compared to 0.940.91 million tons in 2019, and2020. Scrap accounted for approximately 58%72% and 61%58% of our production costs in 2021 and 2020, and 2019, respectively.respectively, mainly due to a 64% price increase. We are able to obtain approximately 70% of our scrap needs from within a 250 km vicinity of our production facilities.

Ferroalloys, Lime and Foaming Coal

Because we do not own any sources of ferroalloys, lime or foaming coal, we must buy these raw materials from third party traders, most of which are located in Europe and source these raw materials from producers around the world.

Rolls

We consume different types of rolls in our rolling mill, usually cast rolls that come from Germany, Italy, Slovenia and China.

Graphite Electrodes

In the smelting shop, which is an electric arc furnace, we use graphite electrodes with a diameter of 750mm. In the ladle furnace, we use electrodes with a diameter of 400mm. We source these electrodes from Europe, Japan and China.

Other Raw Materials

Our production of steel also requires the use of electrodes, rolls, refractory materials and materials for packaging and spare parts, which are mostly purchased from domestic suppliers.

Water

Large amounts of water are required in the production process. Our source of water is the Saale River, located five km from the plant. We use our own water station to pump water via pipelines to the plant.

Electricity and Natural Gas

Steelmaking also requires significant amounts of electricity and natural gas, for which we have supply contracts. Under normal conditions, we consume approximately 446447 GWh of electric energy and 411404 GWh of natural gas annually.

Suppliers

We acquire the inputs necessary for the production of our products globally, with most ofglobally. The following table sets forth our main raw materials suppliers located in Germany, as set forth in the following table:suppliers:

Volta Redonda Long Steel Mill

We completed a newOur Volta Redonda plant mill for the production of long steel products in Volta Redonda and began assisted operations in December 2013. The Volta Redonda plant comprises a 50 ton electric arc steelmaking furnace, 50 ton ladle furnace, continuous casting machine for billets and a hot rolling mill for wire rod and reinforcing bar. This plant is operational and its production increases annually, providing the Brazilian market with products for civil construction and high quality drawing and cold heading applications. In addition to our operational performance improvements, we are developing and negotiating certain equipment enhancements that we expect will provide for nominal capacity of 383 kt/year of billets and 450 kt/year of laminates.

Steelmaking Shop

Designed for an output of 383,000 tons per year, this unit mainly consists of one 50 ton UHP, AC electric arc furnace, one 50 ton ladle furnace, one continuous casting machine for billets with three strands, mobile equipment and cranes, power supply, distribution facilities and auxiliary equipment.

Rolling Mill

Designed for an output of 500,000 tons per year, this unit has one walking-beam reheating furnace, or RHF, a four-stand blooming mill, a 250 ton hot shear, a six-stand roughing mill, a six-stand intermediate mill, a six-stand pre-finishing mill, internal water cooling, a double length flying shear, a stepping cooling bed, a 500 ton cold shear, transfer inspection stand, bundling machine, a water-cooling section before wire finishing mill, a 10-stand high-speed wire finishing mill, a water-cooling section after wire finishing mill, a laying head, a loose coil cooling line, reforming device, bundling machine, stripper and coil handling devices.

Production Output

The following table sets forth the production output of our Volta Redonda long steel mill:

Raw Materials and Energy Suppliers

The main raw material we use in our long steel production in Volta Redonda is scrap, in addition to pig iron. We also use blooms, which we produce in our blast furnace. In addition, our production operations consume electricity, natural and technical gases and ancillary materials like ferroalloys, lime, dolomite and foaming coal. The supply sources for these materials are the same used for our flat steel operations. See “—Raw Materials and Suppliers.”

Our Mining Segment

Our mining activities are among the largest in Brazil and are mainly driven by the exploration of one of our iron ore reserves, Casa de Pedra, in the state of Minas Gerais. We sell our iron ore products mainly in Asia, Europe and Brazil with sales and marketing from Brazil and Austria.

Our Mines

Casa de Pedra Mine

Casa de Pedra is an open pit mine located in the city of Congonhas, in the state of Minas Gerais, approximately 80 km south of the city of Belo Horizonte and 360 km north of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The site is approximately 1,000 meters above sea level and accessible from the cities of Belo Horizonte or Congonhas through mostly paved roads.

Casa de Pedra mine is a hematite-rich iron deposit of an early proterozoic banded iron formation in Brazil’s “Iron Ore Quadrangle”, which is located in the central part of the state of Minas Gerais in the SoutheasternSoutheast region of Brazil and has been one of the most important iron producing regions in Brazil for the last 50 years. We incorporated the mine in 1941, but it has been operating since 1913.

Casa de Pedra mine supplies all of our iron ore needs, except pellets, and produces lump ore, sinter feed and pellet feed fines with high iron content. The following map illustrates the location of our Casa de Pedra mine:

Engenho Mine

Engenho mine, which began operations in 1950, is an open cast mine located in the Southeast region of the “Iron Ore Quadrangle”, 60 km from the city of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais. Its ore is processed in the Pires processing plant and in our unit at Casa de Pedra.

Our mining operations at Casa de Pedra and Engenho mines use hydraulic scoops and wheeled loaders to extract iron ore that is then transported by a large fleet of trucks with an installed annual run of mine capacity of approximately 120 million tons. The iron ore is then processed in our treatment stations, which have an installed capacity of 33 million tons of production per year (covering production in the central plant and production in the dry plants). We use electricity from 100% renewable sources, specifically hydroelectric sources.

Fernandinho Mine

Fernandinho mine is located in the city of Itabirito, in the Mideastern region of the state of Minas Gerais, approximately 40 km from the city of Belo Horizonte. Fernandinho mine is an open pit mine and is accessible from the cities of Belo Horizonte or Itabirito through mostly paved roads. Fernandinho mine began operations in 1950. As of the date of this annual report, Fernandinho mine is inactive.

Limestone and Dolomite Mine

Our extraction and preparation of limestone and dolomite takes place at our Bocaina mining facility located in the city of Arcos, in the state of Minas Gerais. Our Bocaina mining facility is an open pit mine and is accessible from the cities of Belo Horizonte, located approximately 230 km away, and Volta Redonda (where the Presidente Vargas Steelworks is situated), located approximately 462 km away, through paved roads.

The ore in this mine is excavated by a fleet of wheel loaders, excavators and tire tractor, and is transported by a fleet of trucks. We also maintain a fuel truck, a water truck and additional heavy equipment.

Our Bocaina mining facility has an installed annual production capacity of approximately 12.0 million tons and has sufficient limestone and dolomite reserves to adequately supply our steel production, at current levels, for approximately 36 years.

Mineral Resources

The mineral resources of Bocaina quarry were estimated at the end of 2013 and subsequently revised and audited in 2020 by a qualified person following the standards set forth by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Modernized Property Disclosure Requirements for Mining Registrants, as described in Subpart 229.1300 of Regulation S-K (Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations), or S-K 1300.

CSN Cimentos engaged Minerals and Strategy Ltda. to prepare an independent Technical Report Summary on the Mina Bocaina Operation in the municipality of Arcos (Arcos Operations), state of Minas Gerais. The purpose of this Technical Report Summary is to support the disclosure of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates for the Arcos Operations as of December 31, 2020.

This Technical Report Summary conforms to S-K 1300 and Item 601(b)(96) Technical Report Summary. go.to6 visited the property from August 23 to August 24, 2021.

The independent Technical Report also aims to establish improvements and possible adjustments in mining activities with the help of external professionals in geology and mining of carbonate rocks and contribute to the development of the Arcos unit. The report follows the international standard of S-K 1300 and summarizes the history of mineral exploration from the beginning in 1959 through 2020, mineral resources and reserves, mine design, infrastructure, capital and operation costs, and market analysis and technical-economic feasibility study. The report also aims to guide the organization of the technical collection existing in the company, highlighting them necessary, as well as their validity.

The qualified professionals who prepared this technical report understand that there are no risks related to mining, processing or environmental licensing that may materially affect the estimation of reserves.

The main topics of the Technical Report Summary are presented here and the mineral reserves were updated with the consumption from December 31, 2020 to December 31, 2021.

The table below shows a summary of mineral resources of Bocaina quarry as of December 31, 2021. There are no additional activities carried out from December 31, 2020 up to the date of the Technical Report Summary that modified the numbers of mineral resources.

Note: Mineral resources do not include mineral reserves.

Mineral Reserves

The mineral reserves estimated for the Bocaina quarry were developed in accordance with the SEC’s standards. This section provides a summary of the procedures and methods applied to drive the mineral reserves. The work has been undertaken under the supervision of a qualified person, as defined in the SEC’s guidelines.

To convert mineral resources into mineral reserves, the raw material needs for cement manufacturing were considered, with a focus on chemical quality and quantity required for the cement plant, as well as the needs of limestone and dolomite for the steelmaking plant. As all lithologies are usable for the manufacture of cement, the mining project was designed to maximize the recovery of lithologies, without interfering with environmental preservation areas or processing infrastructure areas and keeping strictly within the limits of properties (mineral rights and lands), all belong to CSN Cimentos. With these parameters in mind, a feasible pit project was created based on geotechnical assumptions, a production schedule and a financial model. 

The waste material is composed by Marl with CaO content below 32.7% at the bottom of the quarry, and it is not necessary to be removed. As a result, it does not affect the economic viability of the mineral reserves.

The estimates described herein are consistent with the quality of information available at the time of preparation of the Technical Report Summary, data supplied by outside sources and the assumptions applied.

The basis of the mine planning work was a Mineral Resource Model estimated in accordance with S-K 1300.

The following table sets forth a detailed breakdown of the mineral reserves as of December 31, 2021. The reserves classification reflects the level of accuracy of the modifying factors of the reserve.

Notes: Mineral reserves are based on measured and indicated mineral resources only.

Mineral reserves are estimated with the CaO cut-off content of 32.7%, for the total to reach the product targets.

Figures shown as totals may not represent an arithmetic sum of the figures that precede them due to rounding.

The mining inventory mentioned is based on measured and indicated resources only.

To estimate the mineral reserves, several activities were completed, including detailed open pit and waste dump designing, mine scheduling, fleet and workforce calculations, along with other key aspects of the mineral reserve, such as mineral processing, infrastructure, ESG, risk analysis, cost estimates, economic evaluation and sensitivity analysis. All studies were developed at a level of accuracy in line with a mineral reserves estimation.

The baseline for the mineral reserves considered the process to feed our current cement plant and to supply our steelmaking plant also.

The Bocaina quarry is based on open pit mining concept that uses conventional drilling, blasting, loading, and hauling techniques for all mining areas and rock types. The rocks are drilled with a 3” or 4” hydraulic drill and exploited using ANFO or explosives like emulsion. Loading is done by wheel loaders and hauling with trucks of 34 tons of capacity or off-road trucks with a capacity of 60 tons. Both feed the crushing system.

The crushing system is composed by comminution processes and granulometric classification. There are two crushing lines, one to the flux production, and the second to the clinker production. For clinker manufacturing, there is the goal of lime saturation factor (LSF) between 205 and 235, the MgO content between 2.2 and 2.8, and the granulometry less than 100 mm.

The materials are mined in 15 meter high benches which are considered an appropriate balance between productivity and selectivity.

Grade controls are performed via drilling, sampling, and assaying of the ore material within the pit boundaries.

The Bocaina quarry is in the city of Arcos, in the state of Minas Gerais. And, since the early 1970s, calcitic flux (limestone) and dolomitic flux (dolomitic limestone) have been supplied to Presidente Vargas Steelworks. These products are used in the process of sintering and calcination to produce steel.

After the installation of the Arcos cement plant, the same quarry also supplied 100% of the limestone to the production of the clinker and cement. CSN Cimentos’ cement production takes place in the Arcos and Volta Redonda Units. All clinkers used in the process are produced at the plant in Arcos, which has an installed capacity of 2.8 million tons per year. The clinker is transported from Arcos to Volta Redonda by railway.

All the ore mined at the Bocaina quarry is to supply the industrial plants to produce clinker, cement and steel, and there are no direct sales of the ore. For the purpose of economic analysis of the mine, a net tax revenue was estimated based on the product prices set forth in the following table:

To estimate the mineral reserves, the qualified persons considered the use of 40% of limestone to produce calcitic flux, the use of 70% of dolomite and 30% of dolomite limestone to produce dolomite flux to achieve the specification of these products. The rest of mineral reserves is limestone for clinker production.

The proportion of limestone among the products was adopted by CSN Cimentos, and dolomitic limestone among the products was calculated with the average of MgO content of dolomite and dolomite limestone for dolomite flux.

The CaO cut-off content of 32.7% is also considered the LSF target of at least 200 for the sum of the proven and probable reserves of limestone for clinker.

Historically, roughly 30% of the total dolomite has clay contamination, and is not possible to be recovered to the steelmaking, but it is useful for clinker production.

The pit boundaries were limited by a number of physical constraints such as mining rights, environmental licenses, land properties and infrastructure, as illustrated in the following figure:

Physical Constraints

The mining plan for proven reserves foresees the extraction of 7,500,000 tons of ores per year by 2071, considering the production of 2,418,742 tons of ore to produce calcitic flux, 1,247,638 tons of ores to produce dolomitic flux and 3,833,621 tons of ore for clinker production. The mining exploitation is divided into four steps.

A plan view of the ultimate pit design and its corresponding tonnage evaluation are shown below. The waste material composed by Marl with CaO content below 32.7% is at the bottom of the quarry, and it is not affecting the ores exploitation.

Following is the final pit design evaluation:

Following is a plan view of the final pit design:

CSN Bocaina quarry reserves were 293.8 million tons at the end of 2020, and considering the material mined in 2021 the reserves would be 287.82 million tons at the end of 2021.

Following is an estimated waterfall graph indicating the mineral reserve changes from 2021 to 2022:

Tin Facility

We own a tin facility in Itapuã do Oeste, in the state of Rondônia, through our subsidiary ERSA. This facility has an installed annual production capacity of approximately 3,600 tons of tin, which we use substantially as a raw material to produce tin plate, a coated steel product. A small part of our tin production that is not used as raw material is sold to third parties; however, the results from these sales are insignificant in our consolidated results.

Mineral Rights and Ownership

We hold concessions to mine iron ore, limestone and dolomite. We purchase manganese in the local market. As of the date of this annual report, we own 78.2% of CSN Mineração mines and 100% of Bocaina and Santa Bárbara mines. In addition, each mine is an “open pit” mine. Iron ore extraction, crushing, screening and concentration take place in three different sites: Casa de Pedra mine and Pires beneficiation plant (both of which belong to CSN Mineração) and Fernandinho mine (which belongs to Minérios Nacional).

Casa de Pedra

Our mining rights for Casa de Pedra include the mine, a beneficiation plant, roads, a loading yard and a railway branch and are duly registered with the ANM. The ANM has also granted us easements in 19 mine areas located in the surrounding region, which are not currently part of Casa de Pedra mine.

We believe we have obtained and are in compliance with all licenses and authorizations for our operations and projects at Casa de Pedra mine.

Exploration undertaken at Casa de Pedra mine is subject to mining lease restrictions, which were reflected in our iron ore reserve calculations. Quality requirements (chemical and physical) are the key “modifying factors” in the definition of ore reserves at Casa de Pedra and were properly accounted for by us.

Mineral Resources

The Mineral Resource estimate performed by CSN is summarized in Table 2 as at 1^st November, 2017. In 2021, it was performed an independent check on the reported CSN Mineral Resources using CSN-provided data. The Mineral Resource statement was successfully calculated within 5% of stated quantity and quality.

Mineral Resource as at 1^st November, 2017

Reasonable prospect of eventual economic extraction was verified by performing a pit optimization.

Mineral Reserves

The 2022 Mineral Reserves estimate for the Casa de Pedra mine was developed in accordance with the SEC standards. This section provides a summary of the procedures and methods applied to derive the Mineral Reserves. The work has been undertaken under the supervision of a Qualified Person as defined in the SEC guidelines.

To convert Mineral Resources to Mineral Reserves, consideration was given to forecasts and estimates of product price, metallurgical recovery, mining dilution and ore loss factors, royalties and costs associated to mining, processing, overhead, and logistics. These parameters were used to derive economic cut-off grades and create a feasible pit design based on geotechnical assumptions, a production schedule and a financial model.

The estimates described herein are consistent with the quality of information available at the time of preparation, data supplied by outside sources, and the assumptions used.

The basis of the mine planning work was a Mineral Resource model estimated in compliance with the CRISCO standards. The Mineral Resources were internally developed by CSN and further audited by an external company in 2021. No critical issues were reported.

The detailed breakdown of the Mineral Reserve is presented in the following table. The Reserve classification reflects the level of accuracy of the modifying factors of the Reserve.

Table 1 - Mineral Reserve as at 31^st December, 2021

- Mineral Reserves are based on Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources only.

- The Mineral Reserve is included in the Mineral Resource

The mining inventory aforementioned is based on Measured and Indicated resources only. The estimate includes dilution and ore loss factors. Stockpiles within the current pit limits were considered waste as they are not classified as Mineral Resource.

To estimate the Mineral Reserves a number of activities were completed including detailed design of pit and waste dumps, mine scheduling, fleet and workforce calculations, along with other key aspects of the Mineral Reserve such as mineral processing, infrastructure, ESG, risk analysis, cost estimates, economic evaluation and sensitivity analysis. All studies were developed at a level of accuracy in line with a Mineral Reserve estimate.

The Base Case for the Mineral Reserves considered the process of ore at the current processing plant at Casa de Pedra along with the greenfield project of P15 which is being developed and licensed.

The Casa de Pedra mine is based on a mining concept that uses conventional drill, blast, load and haul techniques for all mining areas and rock types. 100% of rock will be blasted and loaded with excavators and loaders into off-road trucks, and hauled to final destinations, i.e., primary crusher, stockpiles or waste dumps. Specifically, primary mining will be undertaken by large hydraulic excavators (26-m3 bucket capacity) coupled with 240st off-road trucks. Front-end loaders of 25-m3 bucket capacity will also operate at the pit and stockpiles.

The materials will be mined in 13-m high benches which are considered an appropriate balance between productivity and selectivity.

Grade control will be performed via drilling, sampling and assaying potential ore material within the pit boundaries.

The mine will operate 365 days, 24 hours in 3 shifts. The base case for the Project is an owner’s operation.

The long range prices assumed for mine planning purpose correspond to year 2025. The product pricing forecast is shown in the table below.

Table 2 – Product Price Forecast

Various testworks have been performed in a pilot facility to derive the mass yield function, i.e. Mass Recovery = 1.1786 * Fe%. Hematite, friable itabirites, compact itabirites and canga were considered amenable for processing.

The economic mine cut-off to decide whether a block should be mined or left in-situ was calculated by the NPVS software of Datamine.

The pit boundaries were limited by a number of physical constraints such as mining rights, environmental licenses, land properties and infrastructure as illustrated in the figure below.

Mineral Reserves

Figure 1 – Physical Constraints

Planned dilution and ore loss factors were incorporated to the block model through a regularization procedure. The following table sets forth information for each of our mines onmodel contains regularized blocks sized 25 m (X) by 25 m (Y) by 13 m (Z) which reflects the type of mine, period of operation, projected exhaustion dateselectivity mining unit (SMU) dimensions. Additionally, a uniform 5% unplanned dilution factor and percentage of our interest as95% mining recovery were applied to the pit optimization.

A plan view of the date of this annual report:

Reserve pit design and its corresponding tonnage evaluation are shown below.

We calculate our estimates of proven and probable reserves and other mineral deposits at our mines in accordance with the technical definitions contained in the SEC’s Industry Guide 7, and estimates of mine life described in this annual report are derived from these reserve estimates. The mineralized material disclosed refers to the entire mines, and not just to our proportional interest in the mines.

The following table sets forth our estimates of proven and probable reserves and other mineral deposits at our mines reflecting the results of reserve studies:

_______________________Table 3 – Pit Design Evaluation

We do not have audited resources or reserves studies for our Bocaina mine, thus the resources and reserves presented in the table below were not audited by any third parties for that mine. As for our Santa Bárbara mine, we do not have reserve estimates and do not currently plan to begin campaigns to complete a study in connection with this property in light of its low materiality to our business.

The metallurgical recovery factor is the percentage of iron in the ore delivered to the processing plant that is recovered by the metallurgical process. In 2020, the metallurgical recovery factor obtained by Casa de Pedra’s concentration plant was 83.8%. In addition to the flotation plant, we have three magnetic separation plants that achieved metallurgical recovery factors of 61.5%, 93.3% and 3.8%. Since 2018, the Pires plant has operated through a dry process and its metallurgical recovery factor is 100%.

The cutoff grade isFigure 2 – Plan View of the minimum ore percentage that determines which material will be fed in the processing plant. Pit Design

The cutoff grade value for Casa de Pedra and Engenho mines consideredReserves reached 2.80 Bt in 2020. Considering the material mined out in 2021 (depletion) the total Reserves amounted to 2.77 Bt. In 2022, the Mineral Reserve was updated at 2.1 Bt in accordance to SEC rules. The variation is due to a number of factors, illustrated in the most recent auditgraph below, including:

Figure 3 – Waterfall graph indicating the Mineral Reserve changes from 2021 to 2022

Internal Protocols

RESOURCES

CSN is 23.37%.

commited to ensure the application of Mineral Resource´s best practices. The prices usedinvolvement of CSN professionals with institutions, organizations and universities in Brazil and overseas, beyond the 2014 auditconstantly update of its internal protocols, is well documented and applied. Some internal protocols relate to:

Casa de Pedra Mine

In 2012, we started a multi-year study of our iron ore resources and reserves at Casa de Pedra in accordance with best practices in the iron ore market. We conducted extensive work throughout 2014 to document and classify all information related to both the current and future operations of the Casa de Pedra mine. In 2014, we hired Snowden Group, to undertake an independent analysis of the Casa de Pedra iron ore resources and reserves. Snowden carried out a full analysis of all available information and has independently validated our reported resources and reserves.

Snowden accepts as appropriate the estimates regarding proven and probable reserves made by us, totaling 2,704 million tons of iron ore, as of December 31, 2014, at a grade of 41.36% Fe and 36.46% SiO2. This estimate of our iron ore reserves at Casa de Pedra is significantly larger than our estimate of 1,631 million tons, contained in an appraisal report prepared in 2006 by Golder Associates. Over the course of the Casa de Pedra mine’s operation, we have executed several drilling campaigns. The last drilling campaign was in 2014, and we had drilled more than 92,000 meters by November 2014.

Engenho and Fernandinho Mines

In 2012, we started the same process used at Casa de Pedra to identify iron ore resources and reserves at Engenho mine in two stages. We conducted extensive work throughout 2014 to document and classify all information related to both the current and future operations of Engenho and Fernandinho mines. In 2014, we hired Snowden Group to conduct an independent analysis of the Engenho iron ore resources and reserves and Fernandinho resources. Snowden carried out a full analysis of all available information and has independently validated our reported resources and reserves.

Snowden accepts as appropriate the estimates regarding proven and probable reserves made by us, totaling 317 million tons of iron ore for Engenho (as of December 31, 2014) at a grade of 39.48% Fe and 40.01% SiO2.

After our last drilling campaign, we had drilled more than 9,000 meters by November 2014 in our Engenho mine.

Reserves and Resources Estimation

Starting in 2015, we carried out an independent probe, using the same criteria adopted by Snowden, in our Casa de Pedra and Engenho mines and, as a result (i) added 558 million tons to total reserves, as well as depletion of 224 million tons, representing estimated total reserves of 3,355 million tons; and (ii) added 463 million tons in inferred resources, which represents a total of 2,544 million tons.

In addition, as a result of the voluntary probe carried out in the Serra do Esmeril deposit, 2,000 million tons were added as estimated potential (results of exploration not yet classified as a mineral resource or reserve). We calculated this volume in October 2019, from our probes, through geological mapping of the mines and geometric position of the underlying ore at the mines located west of Esmeril. Notwithstanding the analyses and drilling campaigns that we continuously carry out, which may increase or reduce the approximate value of our resources and reserves, we estimate, based on internal studies, reports and estimates, pursuant to the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves – the JORC Code methodology, that we have reserves resources and mineral inventory (estimated exploratory potential) of approximately 7,899 million tons.

RESERVES

The following table sets forth information on our

For the estimation of mineral reserves in the iron ore business, CSN seeks best practices with consulting firms and resources as of December 31, 2020:universities with a distinguished professional and academic track record. Attempting to apply the most appropriate techniques, the reserve calculation aims to verify factors that may affect the estimates and that can be constantly updated and refined, such as:

_____________       

Geological model boundaries

Third party areas

Cultural protected sites

Protected Reserves

Processing Plants and facilities

Our reserves and resources information are estimates based on currently available information, and may not represent actual production volumes in the future. We can provide no assurance that our estimates will not change or that we will be able to extract and convert all of our reserves and resources into production volumes. For more information, see “Item 3. Key Information—3D. Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Us and the Industries in Which We Operate—Our mineral reservereserves and mine life may prove inaccurate, market price fluctuations and cost changes may render certain ore reserves uneconomical to mine and we may face rising extraction costs or investment requirements over time as our reserves deplete.”

ProductionCSN Projects: Sergipe, Pará, Ceará and Paraná Operations

Mineral Resources

The mineral resources of CSN Projects were estimated, revised and audited in 2021 by a qualified person following the standards of S-K 1300.

CSN Cimentos engaged go.to6 to prepare an independent Technical Report Summary on the Sergipe Project, municipality of Maruim, state of Sergipe; Pará Project, municipality of São João de Pirabas, state of Pará; Ceará Project, municipality of Jaguaruana, state of Ceará; and Paraná Project, municipality of Cerro Azul, state of Paraná. The purpose of this Technical Report Summary is to support the disclosure of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates as of December 31, 2021.

The Technical Report Summary conforms to S-K 1300 and Item 601(b)(96) Technical Report Summary.

The independent Technical Report also aims to establish improvements and possible adjustments in geological activities with help of external professionals in geology and mining of carbonate rocks and contribute to the development of our greenfield projects. The report follows the international standard of S-K 1300 and summarizes the history of mineral exploration from 2017 through 2021, mineral resources and reserves.

The Technical Report Summary also aims to guide the organization of the technical collection existing in the company, highlighting them necessary, as well as their validity.

The qualified professional who prepared this technical report understands that there are no risks related to geology, mining, processing, environmental licensing that may materially affect the estimation of mineral resources and reserves.

The main topics of the Technical Report Summary presented here were updated to December 31, 2021.

The following table sets forth a summary of mining rights and mineral resources and reserves as of December 31, 2021:

The greenfield projects listed above are in four different states in Brazil, close to the regions of great demand of the civil construction materials market, with a strategic positioning for our growth. The following map sets forth the location of these greenfield projects:

The following map sets forth the location of the Pará Project in São João de Pirabas, and the access by road departing from the city of Belém, capital of the state of Pará:

The following map sets forth the location of the Ceará Project in Jaguaruana, and the access by road departing from the city of Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará:

The following map sets forth the location of the Sergipe Project, in Maruim, and the access by road departing from the city of Aracaju, capital of the state of Sergipe: