From: International Briquettes Holding, IBH Subsidiary of Siderúrgica Venezolana SIVENSA S.A.C.A. Contacts: Mrs. Isabel Camejo / Mr. Maury Bedoni Investor Relations Telephones: (02) 707.61.45 / 707. 64.49 Telefax: (02) 762.99.38 / 707. 64.26 E-mail: ir_dept@sivensa.com FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION:

IBH REPORTS FIRST SEMESTER 1999 RESULTS

Caracas, April 30, 1999 ... International Briquettes Holding (IBH), a company dedicated to the production and commercialization of iron-ore briquettes, reported sales of US$ 16 million, an operating loss of US$ 8.2 million and a net loss of US$ 8.3 million for the semester ended March 31, 1998. For the January-March second quarter, IBH reported sales of US$ 14 million, an operating loss of US$ 5 million and a net loss of US$ 5.2 million. OPERATIONS After Venprecar's maintenance shutdown and expansion, the plant re-started operations in January. Due to the extensive modifications made to the plant to increase the capacity, an adjustment period was required to reach the optimum levels of production. The international crisis in the pre-reduced iron markets has severely affected Venprecar's HBI prices. For the second quarter of this fiscal year, exports reached 128,044 MT, which represented 77% of total sales. For the comparable quarter of the previous fiscal year, exports were 84,307 MT representing 46% of total sales. Despite the low prices, IBH maintained its presence in the international markets, honoring its long term contracts, anticipating the recovery of the prices. It is important to remember that IBH's financial statements consolidate the Venprecar subsidiary, which is 99.0% owned. The three other companies (Operaciones RDI, Orinoco Iron and Brifer) are owned through a 50-50 joint venture with BHP and are reported using the equity method. ORINOCO IRON As of March 31, the Orinoco Iron Project was 78% completed and it is expected to begin operations at the end of the calendar year. In reference to the projected budget, the project has advanced as programmed. The project's most significant accomplishments include having reached the maximum height of 246 feet at both of the plant's modules plant and the receipt of almost all of the imported equipment. START-UP OF THE FINMET PLANT IN AUSTRALIA During the month of February the Finmet plant in Port Hedland, Australia initiated operations. Thirteen Venezuelan specialists from Brifer, are providing technical assistance during the start-up process. The experience that will be acquired by the technical team will be useful in the Orinoco Iron plant which is being constructed in Venezuela and for future plants that will employ the FINMET Technology. The FINMET process utilizes iron ore fines as its principal raw material instead of iron ore pellets and lumps, which are the most commonly used in the traditional technologies to produce HBI. Due to the abundance of the fines in relation with lumps throughout the iron ore mines in the world, the FINMET technology allows significant savings in the production process. The FINMET direct reduction technology was developed and patented by Brifer (one of the companies under the Joint Venture Agreement between IBH and BHP) and VAI Tech of Austria. International Briquettes Holding (IBH) was created during fiscal year 1997 to group all of Sivensa's HBI operations under a single division. The company, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, produces iron-ore briquettes for sale mainly in foreign markets. IBH holds 98.9% of Venprecar and 50 % of the companies under the IBH/BHP Joint Venture umbrella: Operaciones RDI, Brifer and the Orinoco Iron Project. Its operations are strategically located to take advantage of the low cost of inputs needed to produce HBI such as iron-ore and natural gas which are abundant in Venezuela. IBH's current installed capacity of 1.2 million MT will increase to 3.4 million MT by the year 2000 when the Orinoco Iron plant begins operations. .