“Today is a very sad day for the women and men of Duferco. We are losing Bruno Bolfo, founder of our Group, the man who gave life to our projects and made us great. He left quietly, with his sober and reserved style, confirming even in this last passage his unmistakable understatement.” Thus Antonio Gozzi, President of the Duferco Group, announcing the passing of Bruno Bolfo, founder of the Group.
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“Bruno was a true legend in the global steel industry. A young and brilliant executive of Siderexport, the trading company of Italsider from the last century, he decided in 1979 to try the entrepreneurial adventure and founded Duferco in São Paulo, Brazil, together with a small group of collaborators, all from Liguria. A courageous pioneer,” continues Gozzi.
“In a few years the company grew and became the leading exporter of Brazil, supplying the steel needs of Asian markets through the emerging Brazilian steel industry. The business also grew in North America and, in the mid-1980s, the company moved first to New York and then to Europe to closely seize the opportunities of steel supply coming from the countries of the former Soviet empire. But, in the mid-1990s, with extraordinary vision and brilliant entrepreneurial courage, Bruno was among the first to understand that the advent of the Internet was destined to reduce the informational asymmetries on which trading was based and launched a strategy to enter steel production that led us, in a few years, to become, in 2004, the thirty-fourth largest producer in the world, with almost eight million tons per year,” emphasizes Gozzi.
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“We have plants in Italy, Belgium, France, Denmark, Macedonia, Russia, United States, Guatemala, and South Africa, with almost twenty thousand employees. It is a difficult and exciting phase: acquisitions, alliances, and huge investments mark the growth of our family. Only in Belgium, in a few years, we invest over one and a half billion euros in upgrades and new plants. Bruno, drawing on the expertise of the now-defunct Italian public steel industry, rebuilt a managerial team capable of managing a global and complex system. He did it with his sharp vision, charisma, and continuous attention not only to business but especially to the people who work with us,” continues Gozzi.
“Bruno was a kind and charming man, but also tenacious and determined in decisions. He understood that Duferco was now a platform destined to diversify into sectors close and complementary to steelmaking. This is how the relationship and joint venture with the Romeo family in Novamarine was born; this is how we decided to enter the energy world. With great generosity, in the final phase of his professional activity, he facilitated a delicate generational transition that brought Augusto and Vittoria Gozzi to lead the Group,” adds Gozzi.
