Economy
Venezuelan steelmaker Siderúrgica del Orinoco (Sidor) reported a 61.3 percent decrease in the production of liquid steel compared to January 2009, said Pedro Acuña Grahan, who is the labor director of the plant.

The production of liquid steel amounted to 318,000 tons in January 2009, compared to 123,000 tons in the same month this year, Acuña said.

"This represents a 52 percent reduction compared to the average production in 2009 and only one third of the monthly average yield reached in 2007," he added.

Top government officials decided to implement a plan to save energy by turning off the electrolytic cells located in Venalum and Alcasa smelters and the slabs and billets furnaces of steelmaker Sidor. The plan has been implemented by the Ministry of Basic Industries and Mining (Mibam). The goal is to prevent the decline of the water level in Guri dam. The Guri hydroelectric power plant supplies as much as 70 percent of Venezuela's electricity.

Acuña said that when the steelmaker produced 4.3 million tons of liquid steel, the electricity demand stood at 870 megawatts (MW). However, he stressed that the energy rationing measure comes in a moment of crisis in the aluminum plant, which has been hit by a lack of inputs, refractory materials. As a result, the energy demand has declined to 500 MW."

Acuña said that "Sidor shipped 189,000 tons of products at the end of January, a 132,000 tons decline compared to the average volume shipped in 2007."

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas

Mariela León
EL UNIVERSAL