The Iron and Steel Industry in Colonial and Imperial Brazil

Abstract

It is a well known fact that Brazil today is the greatest producer of iron and steel in all of Latin America. It is less well known that this industry is one of the oldest in the nation. Any effort to trace the development of this iron-working industry from its earliest sources should take into consideration the contributions of the Jesuits. As early as 1554, Father José Anchieta informed his Jesuit superiors and the king of Portugal of the existence of iron ore deposits in the interior of the captaincy of São Vicente (later São Paulo). Even more important in this respect was a forge established by the Jesuit Mateus Nogueira which in 1556 was instrumental in the manufacture of fishhooks, knives, wedges, shovels and other such implements used in the support of his community. These are claimed to be the first implements made from iron in Brazil.