Venezuela's state-owned steelmaker Siderurgica del Orinoc (Sidor) registered a reduced crude steel output in the fourth quarter of 2008, following a power outage and demonstrations by workers.
Venezuelan minister of basic industries and mining, Mr Rodolfo Sanz, said that Sidor's crude steel output fell as low as 245,000 mt in December, down from a record 355,000 mt in August, adding that labor demonstrations also curbed the output in the last quarter. The producer's crude steel output for the fourth quarter declined to 810,000 mt, down from 1.1 million mt in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.