27 July 2015
MUSCAT: Production of iron ore pellets at the Sohar Port complex of Brazilian mining conglomerate Vale soared to a record 2.419 million tonnes during the second quarter of this year, the parent company announced in a quarterly report of its worldwide operations released at the weekend.
Output at the massive pelletising plant, which supplies direct reduction pellets as feedstock to a number of steel mills in the Middle East and Asian regions, surged 27.7 per cent over the previous quarter's figure of 1.895 million tonnes. And in comparison with the corresponding quarter of 2014, output growth in Q1 2015 was a remarkable 17.7 per cent.
Described as an "all-time-record", the production spike came on the heels of a major maintenance shutdown that took place in February year, the company said. The output increase, along with that of another Vale-operated pelletising plant in Brazil, helped boost the conglomerate's total production of iron ore pellets to 12.2 million tonnes during the quarter under review -- billed as a new historical quarterly production record for the group. Rio de Janeiro headquartered Vale SA owns a 70 per cent stake in Vale Oman Pelletising Company (VOPC), which operates a pair of pelletisation trains boasting a nominal capacity of 9 million tonnes per annum at Sohar Port. The balance 30 per cent is held by Oman Oil Company SAOC, the wholly Omani government owned strategic and energy investment vehicle.
Established with an investment of around $2 billion, Vale's Oman project is integrated with a distribution centre that has a throughput capacity to handle 40 million tonnes per annum of iron ore and pellets. The latter facility is one of only two full-fledged distribution centres (the other being in Malaysia) established by Vale to ensure the delivery of iron ore, pellets and other products on time and at relatively low cost.
Another key component of Vale Oman's sprawling facilities at Sohar Port is a marine terminal equipped to berth Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs), dubbed Valemax vessels, each with a capacity to carry up to 400,000 metric tonnes of iron ore from the company's mines in Brazil. The terminal's loading nominal capacity is 10,000 tonnes per hour and the unloading nominal capacity is 9,000 tonnes per hour.
MUSCAT: Production of iron ore pellets at the Sohar Port complex of Brazilian mining conglomerate Vale soared to a record 2.419 million tonnes during the second quarter of this year, the parent company announced in a quarterly report of its worldwide operations released at the weekend.
Output at the massive pelletising plant, which supplies direct reduction pellets as feedstock to a number of steel mills in the Middle East and Asian regions, surged 27.7 per cent over the previous quarter's figure of 1.895 million tonnes. And in comparison with the corresponding quarter of 2014, output growth in Q1 2015 was a remarkable 17.7 per cent.
Described as an "all-time-record", the production spike came on the heels of a major maintenance shutdown that took place in February year, the company said. The output increase, along with that of another Vale-operated pelletising plant in Brazil, helped boost the conglomerate's total production of iron ore pellets to 12.2 million tonnes during the quarter under review -- billed as a new historical quarterly production record for the group. Rio de Janeiro headquartered Vale SA owns a 70 per cent stake in Vale Oman Pelletising Company (VOPC), which operates a pair of pelletisation trains boasting a nominal capacity of 9 million tonnes per annum at Sohar Port. The balance 30 per cent is held by Oman Oil Company SAOC, the wholly Omani government owned strategic and energy investment vehicle.
Established with an investment of around $2 billion, Vale's Oman project is integrated with a distribution centre that has a throughput capacity to handle 40 million tonnes per annum of iron ore and pellets. The latter facility is one of only two full-fledged distribution centres (the other being in Malaysia) established by Vale to ensure the delivery of iron ore, pellets and other products on time and at relatively low cost.
Another key component of Vale Oman's sprawling facilities at Sohar Port is a marine terminal equipped to berth Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs), dubbed Valemax vessels, each with a capacity to carry up to 400,000 metric tonnes of iron ore from the company's mines in Brazil. The terminal's loading nominal capacity is 10,000 tonnes per hour and the unloading nominal capacity is 9,000 tonnes per hour.
© Oman Daily Observer 2015
