Brazilian long steel giant Gerdau (GGB) is working at less than 80% of installed capacity, Chairman Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter told the local Estado news agency Wednesday.

The economic slowdown has crimped global and domestic demand for steel products, and Brazil's steel industry reflected the impact, Johannpeter said.

Gerdau CEO Andre Gerdau Johannpeter said earlier this month that the company was operating at between 60% and 70% of capacity. With signals that demand is increasing, the CEO said that capacity utilization should climb in the second half of 2009.

Gerdau said earlier this month that it planned to keep several blast furnaces in the U.S. operating - they had previously been expected to be shut down. In Brazil, Gerdau's Acominas unit will keep its No. 2 blast furnace hot after the company shelved plans to shut it down for maintenance.

While the credit squeeze that sparked the slowdown has eased, investments in general remained suspended. "For big companies, there's no lack of credit," Jorge Gerdau Johannpeter told Estado.

The chairman lauded government stimulus measures, which focused on consumers. "When you stimulate consumption, the entire production chain has to adjust," he said.

Gerdau shares were the lone steel-sector gainers in trading Wednesday, rising 0.3% to 22.02 Brazilian reals ($12.03) in trading on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange. The shares underperformed the broader index as measured by the Ibovespa stocks index, which was 0.6% higher at 56,057 points.

-By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6085; Jeff.Fick@dowjones.com