The largest steelmaker in Latin America, Gerdau SA, announced Tuesday that it will start routine maintenance work at its mills in Brazil and Peru earlier than initially planned, cutting output and using stockpiles to supply customers.
Gerdau's Siderperu operations stopped Monday, with output expected to resume gradually in January, except for one blast furnace, which will stay offline until March, the company said. Meanwhile a blast furnace at the company's Acominas unit in Brazil will be down from December 15 to March 15, reducing its pig iron output by 16 percent.
Additionally, the company said that due to the weak demand it has been cutting production at its US units and may opt to move up some scheduled maintenance work there as well.