Brazilian miner Vale shipped its first third-party export of iron ore out of its Sohar complex in Oman, which includes a distribution center as well as an iron ore pelletizing plant.
The deal is a result of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in March by Vale, the port’s administration authority and the Oman National Investments Development Company, Tanmia.
According to a Vale’s executive in Oman, the Arab country is rich in minerals and the Brazilian company wants to “contribute” with its knowledge and industrial expertise, so the sultanate could export its industrial minerals to the global markets at competitive costs.
Vale invested $2 billion to build an iron ore pelletizing plant as well as a distribution center in the port of Sohar, where it owns a maritime terminal. Since the capacity of Vale’s port terminal exceeds the pelletizing plant’s total capacity output, Vale started to handle third-party cargos.
Currently, about 50 percent of Vale’s terminal capacity is being used. Vale does not have mining operations in Oman, but it uses iron ore imported from Brazil at its pelletizing plant.