the products, and enhancement of the environmental protection and cleanup programs. Since February 1996, all production has been based on the continuous casting process, rather than ingot casting, an alternative method that resulted in lower energy use and metal loss. From 1996 through 2002, CSN spent the equivalent of US$2.4 billion under the capital improvement program and for operational capacity maintenance, culminating with the revamping in 2001 of Blast Furnace #3 and Hot Strip Mill #2 at the Presidente Vargas Steelworks increasing annual production capacity to 5.6 million tons of crude steel and 5.1 million tons of rolled products, from approximately 5.0 million tons in each case. In 2005 reinforced its position as the largest iron-mining operation in the country, through a controlling stake in Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD). In January 2004, the CSN board announced the approval of investments up to US$820 million to be made through 2007, including: expansion of production at the Casa de Pedra iron ore mine from 15.5 to approximately 40 million tons; expansion of the coal terminal adjacent to the Sepetiba Port facilities to enable annual exports of up to 30 million tons of iron ore; and the construction of a six million-ton pellet plant. The company also explored opportunities for acquisitions or mergers abroad in order to expand output, and proposed to build a new steel plant which would have doubled current annual production of 5.8 million tons of raw steel, at an estimated investment cost of US$2.6 billion. Seeking to maintain focus on its program of acquisitions and growth, CSN set aside $520 million for investments in 2005. Privatization ( 1993-present ) In 1993 the company was privatized by Itamar Franco's government, during the National Program for Privatization led by the federal government, started by Fernando Collor and continued by Franco. Its main factories were located in Volta Redonda, at the Vale do Paraíba region, southern Rio de Janeiro state, and its iron mines at Congonhas and Arcos, both of them cities in the Minas Gerais state, and the coal mines at Siderópolis, Santa Catarina state. During almost 50 years of state control, the Brazilian flat steel sector was coordinated on a national basis under the auspices of Siderbrás, the national steel monopoly. The state had far less involvement in the non-flat steel sector, which has traditionally been made up of smaller private sector companies. The larger integrated flat steel