Category: South America
THE EMERGENCE OF THE DEVELOPMENT POLE
Somewhat older than the history of the city is that of the industrial site. It began as early as 1952 with the construction of ore processing plants and an ore port west of the Caroni estuary by the Orinoco Mining Company. At the same time, a first factory settlement was built. In Matanzas, the state-owned company Siderúrgica del Orinoco (SIDOR) started iron production in 1962, and from 1974 the expansion into an integrated steelworks for the production of profile steel, tubes, wires and other rolled products began. In 1990 SIDOR manufactured around 90 percent of Venezuela’s steel products.
Further plants were established as a joint venture between CVG and foreign companies, including a factory for the production of iron briquettes in 1974, a plant for the production of pellets in 1978 – both strongly oriented towards export – and in 1979 a plant that made lump ore and pellets Sponge iron produced for steel production. Aluminum production also developed into an important industrial sector. In 1967 and 1978, with US and Japanese capital participation, two aluminum plants with their own ports were established. They initially had to resort to imported bauxite, but were soon able to obtain the raw material from the nearby deposits. Today Venezuela is the eighth largest bauxite producer in the world with around 6 million tons per year.
Other industries, including a cement plant, were not that important to the labor market. On the other hand, many workers are employed in the extensive industrial zones for commercial enterprises and light industry, mostly in small businesses. For more information about the continent of South America, please check ezinereligion.com.
