South Korea’s Dongkuk Steel, a partner with Posco and Vale in Companhia Siderurgica do Pecem (CSP), expects a May start-up for the Brazil-based project, according to a media report.
The company’s vice chairman Sae-wook said the Korean steel producer is “considering starting up the blast furnace [of Vale’s JV owned project] in early May.”
Dongkuk’s forecast is aligned with Vale’s latest estimate for the mill to commence operations, which was H1 2016.
Recently, CSP received its first coal shipments to supply its slab mill. It also received iron ore shipments from Vale.
A media report said the mill received about 70,000 mt of coal from Porto de Beira in Mozambique. According to a port authority in the state of Ceara, the company was about to receive another 22,000 mt of coal.
Earlier this year, CSP was reportedly to have received about 83,000 mt of iron ore at the No. 1 pier in the Pecem port, in the city of Sao Goncalo do Amarante, in the state of Ceara, from Brazil’s Vale.