Venezuela cuts steel, aluminum output

Venezuela cuts steel, aluminum output to save power. Venezuela will chop output at its leading steel mill and two aluminum smelters to reduce energy consumption due to falling water levels at the dam which supplies about 70 percent of the country's electricity, a government minister said. In a televised announcement, Basic Industry Minister Rodolfo Sanz said that the country would save about 558 megawatts compelled by restricted power supply at the Guri hydroelectric dam. The announcements followed the publication in the official gazette, circulated on Tuesday, of resolutions requiring business consumers to draw up plans to cut electricity consumption by at least 20 percent, compared with a year earlier, due to the fall in water levels at hydroelectric dams. At the country's leading steelmaker, the government-owned Sidor, Sanz said two furnaces would be closed to save about 200 megawatts of energy, he said. The company would take advantage of the closure to repair the furnaces in an investment requiring about $200 million, he said.