Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Monday that he was working to achieve an agreement with Argentine conglomerate Techint over the nationalization of Venezuela's largest steel plant Ternium Sidor which is controlled by Techint.

Chavez, who is in Argentina for the summit of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) slated for Tuesday, said he will also discuss the issue with his Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez at the meeting.

Chavez announced the takeover of Ternium Sidor in mid-April, but moved to expropriate the company on April 30 as talks to fix a price for Ternium's 60 percent stake in the company stalled.

Ternium is a Luxembourg-based steelmaker controlled by Techint. In the wake of Ternium Sidor's takeover, Ternium expressed understanding of the "political context" of the Venezuelan government's decision and hoped to reach an agreement with Caracas to retain a share in the nationalized company and rest the rest at a "fair" price.

Both sides set June 30 as the deadline for deciding on the issue.

Venezuelan Basic Industry and Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said his country was willing to allow Ternium to keep 10 percent shares.