TIME LINE

To tell the story of the TREFITA group’s 20-plus-year history, we must take a bigger step back in time, to 1948, and in space, across the Atlantic, all the way to Italy,.

It was from that country, which World War II had ravaged, that the Iovino family departed to Brazil, where Salvatore Iovino arrived in 1953. In his teenage years, he worked at a furniture shop, and later for a law firm. He took his first steps in the steel industry when he was hired for the thermal treatment area of a company in the business. Beginning in 1963, with a trade-school degree in accounting, he joined forces with friends in a series of enterprises pursing a business of their own. These included a car parts distribution company, a law and accounting firm, and a pharmaceuticals company. A variety of professional backgrounds and an enterprising spirit were already Salvatore Iovino’s trademark traits when he met the woman with whom he would build a life and business partnership. He and Sonia Torres Iovino were married in 1972.

Salvatore Iovino becomes a founding partner in a company located in the Parque Novo Mundo district, northern São Paulo. With 100 tons in inventories, the company starts out as a steel distributor.

May 1983

1985

Purchase of the first own-building in Parque Novo Mundo, São Paulo.

Ever watchful for business opportunities, Salvatore sets up cold drawing and peeling machines in the company yard and starts expanding his inventory.

1994

1995

Salvatore asks his daughter Anna Letizia to work by his side at the firm where he was a partner. Anna Letizia, a recent Economics graduate, gains in-depth knowledge of the steel market, and makes the rounds of all of the company’s areas, including billing, finance and sales. That same year, Sonia Torres Iovino takes responsibility for creating the company’s brand and preparing its first catalog.

Salvatore acquires the property that is to this day the Headquarters of the steel company where he is a partner.

Late 1995

January 30, 1996

Salvatore and Sonia Torres execute the articles of constitution of TREFITA I.

Operations begin at TREFITA I, also in the Parque Novo Mundo district. Anna Letizia joins the company as a partner.

April 13, 1996

1997

First import of forged steel from Argentina, still as a partner in the former company.

Salvatore Iovino leaves the previous company and begins to dedicate full-time to TREFITA. The company is a pioneer player in the peeled material niche, and also known for its inventories, with steel stock from ½” to 4”.

1998

Unveiling of TREFITA II, in the Parque Novo Mundo district, at the address of the company where Salvatore Iovino had been a partner before. TREFITA II diversifies and enters the rolled and forged steel market.

First import of Thick rolled material from Russia, a distinction in the company’s portfolio. Another TREFITA branch opens up as a warehouse in the Parque Novo Mundo district.

2000

2002

Yet another TREFITA branch opens, also as a warehouse, in Parque Novo Mundo.

TREFITA earns its first ISO certificate – guaranteeing traceability of the materials sold.

2003

2004

An employee literacy program begins in partnership with a neighboring school. TREFITA, which was already recognized for its employees’ ongoing technical training, takes another step forward on behalf of its team’s social well-being.

Focus on computerization, implementing an IT framework that still relied on the DOS system at the time.

2004

2005

Establishment of AÇOS TORRES, in the district of Vila Monumento, southern São Paulo. The company stands out for marketing parts for heavy machinery industries and for its inventory, with gauges up to 60”.

A TREFITA branch opens for service in Belo Horizonte (state of Minas Gerais), providing a foothold in a region that is a pillar of the national mechanical industry.

2006

Another TREFITA warehousing branch pens in Parque Novo Mundo.

First import of materials from China.

2008

2009

The TREFITA branch in Belo Horizonte becomes ISO certified.

The company’s founding partner Sonia Torres Iovino passes away.

March 3, 2011

2013

TREFITA II becomes ISO certified.

Trefita is the first company in Brazil to purchase the biggest cutting machine available with capacity to cut steel up to 1800 mm thick

2015

July 27, 2017

Trefita II moves from the Parque Novo Mundo district to another address in the district of Jardim Andaraí. The operation takes place with the factory and all of the company’s services in full operation.

The group’s mission, vision and objectives are laid out, and internal development policies are built. In the same year, the company’s entire operating system became integrated.

2017

2018

TREFITA opens a sales office in Iperoba (state of Santa Catarina). In the same year, the company’s entire quality management system became integrated. The group now has 183 employees, its own fleet of trucks, and is set to attain its goal of becoming the market leader by 2020. Empresários de Sucesso interview

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2019