13 July 2011
MUSCAT: Catering to the bourgeoning demand for iron ore products in the Middle East, Vale has released its first shipment of pellets to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) from its $1.35 billion pelletising plant and distribution centre in Sohar. The 77,000-tonne shipment is part of a recently signed contract to supply 34 million tonnes of pellets to Sabic.
"Our partnership with Sabic has flourished for over 25 years and continues to grow as we both share an evolving vision for a prosperous future that not only touches the lives of people in the steel industry, but all those around us," said Sergio Espeschit, Vale's sales general manager.
Vale and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation have been business partners since the start up of the Sabic-Hadeed plant in Al Jubail in 1982. "As service and product providers, we understand the importance of quality and excellence. Our project in the Sultanate of Oman is a direct result of this approach and provides a just-in-time operations framework to better serve customers across the region."
"We have managed to substantially reduce the time taken for a shipment to reach Sabic's plant in Saudi Arabia from 35 days to two days, thereby arming Vale and its clients with an even greater competitive edge," he added.
Steel production
Sabic is one of the world's leading manufacturers of metals and the company's success can be attributed to its focus on local partnership investments, state-of-the-art research and technology programmes, as well as an ambitious global growth strategy.
Steel production has increased by more than five-fold to a current level of 5.2 million tonnes and is expected to shortly reach 6 million tonnes.
On the occasion, Abdulaziz Sulaiman Al Humaid, Sabic executive vice-president for Metals and Hadeed chairman of the board stated: "With the plant strategically located in Sohar, which is a few sailing days and Vale's vast investments, we are confident that we will increase our competitiveness, becoming regional leaders in the steel industry. The recently signed contract is but a first step towards accomplishing our best laid strategies as the accessibility of Vale's operations in Oman provides us with the means to further expand our output capacity and enhance cost efficiency."
"Our businesses very much complement one another through strategic long-term commitments and high levels of transparency to create a win-win partnership," Al Humaid added.
Vale's first shipment from Oman was loaded on the 1.5-km jetty operated by Vale at Sohar Industrial Port and the consignment is scheduled to be unloaded in Al Jubail Industrial Port located in Ash Sharqiyah province in Saudi Arabia.
Vale started pellet production at a capacity of 4.5 million metric tonnes per annum earlier in April 2011 which officially marked the start-up of its first line of operations. The two-unit pelletising plant will be fully operational by November 2011, producing a total of 9 million metric tonnes of iron-ore pellets annually.
MUSCAT: Catering to the bourgeoning demand for iron ore products in the Middle East, Vale has released its first shipment of pellets to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) from its $1.35 billion pelletising plant and distribution centre in Sohar. The 77,000-tonne shipment is part of a recently signed contract to supply 34 million tonnes of pellets to Sabic.
"Our partnership with Sabic has flourished for over 25 years and continues to grow as we both share an evolving vision for a prosperous future that not only touches the lives of people in the steel industry, but all those around us," said Sergio Espeschit, Vale's sales general manager.
Vale and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation have been business partners since the start up of the Sabic-Hadeed plant in Al Jubail in 1982. "As service and product providers, we understand the importance of quality and excellence. Our project in the Sultanate of Oman is a direct result of this approach and provides a just-in-time operations framework to better serve customers across the region."
"We have managed to substantially reduce the time taken for a shipment to reach Sabic's plant in Saudi Arabia from 35 days to two days, thereby arming Vale and its clients with an even greater competitive edge," he added.
Steel production
Sabic is one of the world's leading manufacturers of metals and the company's success can be attributed to its focus on local partnership investments, state-of-the-art research and technology programmes, as well as an ambitious global growth strategy.
Steel production has increased by more than five-fold to a current level of 5.2 million tonnes and is expected to shortly reach 6 million tonnes.
On the occasion, Abdulaziz Sulaiman Al Humaid, Sabic executive vice-president for Metals and Hadeed chairman of the board stated: "With the plant strategically located in Sohar, which is a few sailing days and Vale's vast investments, we are confident that we will increase our competitiveness, becoming regional leaders in the steel industry. The recently signed contract is but a first step towards accomplishing our best laid strategies as the accessibility of Vale's operations in Oman provides us with the means to further expand our output capacity and enhance cost efficiency."
"Our businesses very much complement one another through strategic long-term commitments and high levels of transparency to create a win-win partnership," Al Humaid added.
Vale's first shipment from Oman was loaded on the 1.5-km jetty operated by Vale at Sohar Industrial Port and the consignment is scheduled to be unloaded in Al Jubail Industrial Port located in Ash Sharqiyah province in Saudi Arabia.
Vale started pellet production at a capacity of 4.5 million metric tonnes per annum earlier in April 2011 which officially marked the start-up of its first line of operations. The two-unit pelletising plant will be fully operational by November 2011, producing a total of 9 million metric tonnes of iron-ore pellets annually.
© Times of Oman 2011
