São Paulo, May 16th, 2016.

To

Mr. Nelson Barroso Ortega

Superintendência de Acompanhamento de Empresas BM&FBovespa

Cc:

CVM - Comissão de Valores Mobiliários Mr. Fernando Soares Vieira (Superintendente de Relações com Empresas)

Mr. Francisco José Bastos Santos

(Superintendente de Relações com o Mercado e Intermediários)

Ref.: Official Letter SAE 2177/2016 on May 13th 2016 - clarification request about information published by the press.

In attendance of the Official Letter SAE 2177/2016 on May 13th, 2016, which request clarification about the news on Valor Econômico, in your 05/13/2016 edition, which includes, among other information, that the Company (i) will announce in this quarter an asset sale to reduce indebtedness; and (ii) expects its total CAPEX to be around R$ 1.2 billion in 2016 (in 2015 it was R$ 2.2 billion), against a previous guidance of R$ 1.5 billion in the end of 2015, we clarify the following:

• On May 12th, 2016, the Company hold a Conference call with live broadcast on the internet (webcast), relating to its 1Q16 Earnings Release and management current perspectives about the Company ("Conference Call").

• The Conference Call had its schedule previously announced and the event was open to the market with wide participation of investors and analysts, allowing them to ask questions about the leverage reduction plan, as well as the asset sales expectations and planned investments for 2016, according to the Conference Call in the minutes 22:12 and 24:07, respectively.

  • We reaffirm that some statements made during this conference call relative to CSN's business prospects, operational and financial projections and goals are beliefs and assumptions of the Company's management and they could affect the results and the performance of the Company and future events. The actual results, Company´s performance and future events could be materially different from those expressed in such forward-looking statements as a consequence of economic conditions of Brazil and other countries, interests rates, exchange rates, future renegotiations or obligation prepayments or credit denominated in foreign currency, protectionist measures in the United States, Brazil and others countries, changes in law and regulations and general competitive factors (in global, regional and national base).

• Both presentation and full content of the Conference Call audio are available on CSN's Investor Relations website (www.csn.com.br/ir), on the "Webcast 1Q16" section.

• Other information can be obtained in the Quarterly Financial Statement (ITR), and available in the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários - CVM (www.cvm.gov.br), BM&FBovespa (www.bmfbovespa.com.br) and the Company (www.csn.com.br/ri) websites.

We are available for any further clarifications deemed necessary.

São Paulo, May 16th 2016.

Paulo Rogério Caffarelli IR Executive Officer