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Vale announced Thursday it has started load tests at the first iron ore briquette plant, at the Tubarão Unit, in Vitória, Brazil.
According to the company, the product will help steelmakers cut their carbon emissions by up to 10%.
The tests are part of one of the last stages before Vale’s briquette plant, in Espirito Santo state, launches production later this year, Vale’s executive vice-president Of Iron Ore Solutions Marcello Spinelli, told Reuters.
The miner already has an estimated backlog that should take 18 months to fulfill, Spinelli said.
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Vale’s first plant will have a production capacity of two million metric tons per year, while a second one, set to produce 4 million tons, is due to start operating at the beginning of 2024.
European, Japanese and Korean customers were first in line to receive what Spinelli called the “novelty product”.
The briquette, which Vale started developing some 20 years ago and officially announced in 2021, could be used to replace sinters, pellets and granules in steelmaking.
Vale plans to approve two more briquette plants this year and another three in 2024, with production starting in two or three years, Spinelli said.
Briquettes are included in Vale’s strategy to reduce its scope 3 emissions by 15% by 2035.
(With files from Reuters)
