Venezuela's aluminum and steel production below 1997 numbers

Official statistics reveal that the output of the subsidiaries of the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG) and private manufacturing, of the essence to diversify exports and supply raw materials to the rest of the economy, is seriously shrinking.

At September 2011, the last data released by the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV), the output of iron, steel and aluminum, items produced by the CVG, is 15%, 30% and 50% below the 1997 output.

Concomitantly, the schedule of private manufacturing shows that at 2011, the output of textiles, vehicles, electrical items, machinery and equipment is also lower than 1997 levels.

Companies go in the opposite direction. On May 1, 2008, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez trumpeted nationalization of the Orinoco Steel and Iron Industry (Sidor).

"Workers will join us and the people for Sidor now to step forward, as a big engine, to build socialism," he reasserted.

José Guerra, the director of the School of Economy, Central University of Venezuela (UCV), blamed overvaluation of the domestic currency, price control and violation of property rights for the poor performance.

vsalmeron@eluniversal.com