Vale has partnered with Chinese steelmaker Jinnan Steel Group to build a concentration plant in Oman that will supply high-quality iron ore for the production of pellets and briquettes in the region, which will contribute to the manufacture of low-carbon products. .
With an initial investment of more than 600 million dollars, the plant to be installed in the port and free trade zone of Sohar, in Oman, will be owned by Jinnan.
The Sohar plant is scheduled to come into operation in mid-2027, processing 18 million tonnes of iron ore per year to produce 12.6 million tonnes of high-quality concentrate, the company said.
In a statement, Vale’s president, Gustavo Pimenta, stated that the project increases the company’s ability to meet the growing global demand for high-quality iron ore and reinforces its presence in the Middle East.
The Sohar Concentration Plant represents a fundamental investment for Vale, as we increase our capacity to meet the growing global demand for high-quality iron ore and further strengthen our presence in the Middle East. This project brings together Brazil’s capacity to produce high-quality iron ore with Oman’s privileged location and infrastructure to expand integration between the two countries, in addition to reinforcing our partnership with China through Jinnan.
Gustavo Pepper, President of Vale
Vale will invest US$227 million to connect the plant to its agglomeration facilities in the region, while Jinnan Steel, a private steelmaker based in northern China’s Shanxi province, will invest around US$400 million in construction and plant operation.
According to the company, this partnership will allow iron ore to be transformed into a higher quality concentrate to later produce high quality pellets and, in the future, briquettes, with reduced environmental impact.
Vale highlighted that it intends to replicate this investment model for industrial complexes (“mega hubs”), where the company plans to build and operate iron ore concentration and briquette production plants.
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The expectation in these complexes is that local parties will build the necessary logistics infrastructure and that investors or customers will build and operate the direct reduction plants and be the purchasers of the HBI.
Vale has already announced the construction of “mega hubs” in the Middle East (Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and signed agreements to develop the same model in Brazil and the United States.
