Venezuela's government expects to substitute imports for hot-briquetted iron producers 

Comsigua and Briquetera de Venezuela (BriqVen), the minister of basic industries, Juan

 Arias, said Thursday. 

Other  basis   industry  companies, including  aluminum  producers, also were  cited  in  the 

statement as part of the measure to reduce imports. 

Arias  met  with  representatives  of  several companies to discuss the issue over the past 

week. The goal is to import fewer raw  materials  used in the making of HBI and other prod

ucts, as well as parts and inputs for general operations. 

Venezuela's  imports  were limited because of the unfavorable currency exchange rate and 

further restrictions to access the US dollar. Low international oil prices are the main reason 

Venezuela has been unable to import a large amount of raw materials for its basic industries, 

Arias has said, with the steel industry severely affected by its reliance on such imports. 

Venezuela's main export product is oil and since the last quarter of 2014, its oil export prices 

dropped to well below $100/b, reaching a low of around $30/b in early 2016. 

Sidor, Venezuela's largest steelmaker, has been offline since the last days of June, stopped 

on a lack of electrodes and remains offline awaiting imports of such product. 

In the other hand, Arias said during July that the country expected to double its basic industr

y exports by value in 2017 -- which include iron ore, hot-briquetted iron, steel, aluminum and 

other metals -- are expected to reach $1 billion in 2017.