Gerdau to invest $1.4b to expand Peru unit while increasing exports

Gerdau SA, Latin America's biggest steelmaker, will invest $1.4 billion to expand its Peruvian unit and increase exports to other countries in the region.

The expansion of Empresa Siderurgica del Peru SA will boost steel output to 3 million metric tons a year by 2013 from 450,000 tons now, announced Chief Executive Officer Andre Gerdau Johannpeter.

"Peru will be one of South America's three largest steel producers" Gerdau Johannpeter told reporters yesterday after meeting with Peruvian President Alan Garcia in Lima.