El Universal reported that Venezuela's largest steelmaker Siderurgica del Orinoco produced about 30% less of the metal in the first quarter from a year earlier.
The newspaper said that Sidor as the company produced 792,000 tonnes of liquid steel in the first quarter down from 1.1 million tonnes in 2007.
It said that labor disruptions contributed to the slowdown as workers sought to pressure the company into signing a new contract.
The newspapers said that production fell by 9.5% during April and May, as the government completed a takeover of the steelmaker. It said that Sidor is on target to produce 3.9 million tonnes of liquid steel this year down from 4.3 million tonnes in 2007
