Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez said on Wednesday the government will take control of the country’s top steelmaker, Argentine-controlled Ternium Sidor, even as negotiations with the company continue.

Socialist Chavez signed a decree to nationalise the steelmaker and said he would name a commission to take control of the company, part of his drive to increase government participation in key industries.

”We are going to sign a law by which Venezuela will recover our Sidor,” he told cheering union members. ”This decree names a commission to take control of the company and put it to the interests of the nation.”

When Chavez nationalised several foreign-owned oil projects last year, workers took the installations during the May 1 labour celebrations, but talks with the companies carried on.

In recent days, Chavez has stepped up pressure on Ternium to strike a deal over the value of the sprawling Sidor plant on the Orinoco river.

On Sunday, he called the company ”crazy” for asking for $4bn for its holdings and threatened to expropriate if it did not quickly lower its demands.

Sidor employs almost 15,000 workers and last year produced 4.3m tonnes of liquid steel despite sporadic strikes in a drawn out labor dispute that prompted Chavez to nationalise . He announced the planned takeover earlier in April.

The government is also in the process of nationalizing foreign-owned cement companies such as Mexico’s Cemex.

It has typically paid reasonable compensation for nationalised property.