By: Henry Lazenby
4th October 2012
TORONTO (Mining Weekly) – The world’s largest producer of iron-ore and iron-ore pellets on Thursday said it would scale back pellet production in an effort to align production with cyclical trends.
The company said an additional portion of its iron-ore production capacity would be allocated to increase the supply of sinter feed, which would result in a reduced availability of pellet feed for the pelletising process.
Vale, the world’s second-largest miner, said the production adjustments stemmed from a change in the composition of steel-industry demand for raw materials, which had resulted in a contraction in pellet consumption in favour of using sinter feed.
The company would temporarily halt operations at the São Luís pellet plant, in Brazil’s Maranhão state, on October 8, and the Tubarão I and II pellet plants, in Espírito Santo state, from November 13.
Vale said it expected to invest in the execution of its iron-ore and pellets growth pipeline, and remained confident in the long-term iron-ore market fundamentals.
The affected plants were responsible for the production of 4.92-million tons of pellets during the first half of the year, accounting for 18.3% of Vale's total pellet production.
Employees at the mothballed plants would be reassigned to other operational areas within the company.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
4th October 2012
TORONTO (Mining Weekly) – The world’s largest producer of iron-ore and iron-ore pellets on Thursday said it would scale back pellet production in an effort to align production with cyclical trends.
The company said an additional portion of its iron-ore production capacity would be allocated to increase the supply of sinter feed, which would result in a reduced availability of pellet feed for the pelletising process.
Vale, the world’s second-largest miner, said the production adjustments stemmed from a change in the composition of steel-industry demand for raw materials, which had resulted in a contraction in pellet consumption in favour of using sinter feed.
The company would temporarily halt operations at the São Luís pellet plant, in Brazil’s Maranhão state, on October 8, and the Tubarão I and II pellet plants, in Espírito Santo state, from November 13.
Vale said it expected to invest in the execution of its iron-ore and pellets growth pipeline, and remained confident in the long-term iron-ore market fundamentals.
The affected plants were responsible for the production of 4.92-million tons of pellets during the first half of the year, accounting for 18.3% of Vale's total pellet production.
Employees at the mothballed plants would be reassigned to other operational areas within the company.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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