Gerdau halts steel units in Peru, Argentina amid coronavirus pandemic

摘要

Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau has temporarily halted operations in Argentina and Peru following lockdowns in both countries to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic. Gerdau’s activities in Brazil have been affected, but have not been suspended so far, the company said on Tuesday March 24. Capital expenditure initiatives around the globe have been put on hold to reduce on-site personnel and to adjust operations for an expected fall in demand, Gerdau added. Full-year 2020 investments guidance was for 2.6 billion Reais ($511 million) across all divisions, from a total planned spend of 7 billion Reais over the 2019-2021 period. Some 1.75 billion Reais of that was spent on projects in 2019.