Brazilian mining firm Vale will launch a new pellet feed product made from its IOCJ iron ore fines in China early next year to meet growing demand for direct-charge products do not require sintering.
The hematite product, GF88, will be made by grinding 65pc Fe IOCJ fines at Chinese ports. Vale has tested the GF88 pellet feed at its Oman pelletising plant and during trials in China.
"It is another solution for pelletising plants that are coming on line" in China, said Vale ferrous minerals executive director Marcello Spinelli at a China iron and steel association Cisa conference in Qingdao today. "We think it will grow very fast."
China's ratio of pellet in its blast furnace iron ore feed is expected to grow from 14pc in 2018 to 19pc by 2025, requiring an additional 50mn t/yr of pellets and pellet feed, he said.
Stricter environmental controls will decrease mills' sintering of iron ore fines, plus the use of larger blast furnaces will shift burden mixes towards pellet, Spinelli said. It will also drive increased greenfield development of Chinese iron ore mines that supply concentrate to make pellet.
The use of IOCJ as a pellet feed is one of the strategies Vale is using to avoid oversupply of 65pc fines from its output growth. It previously said it was feeding Carajas fines into its pellet plants to maximise productivity.
Vale's ramp-up of its S11D mine is adding 90mn t/yr of 65pc Fe supply. It is also considering increasing the capacity of its Carajas Serra Sul mine in Para state to 150mn t/yr, with necessary capacity investment in a second rail line and port, he said.
Vale has used its increased IOCJ supply to blend with lower-Fe southern system fines for a 63pc Fe BRBF product. Vale estimates supply of BRBF will increase to 106mn t in 2019 from 97mn t in 2018, with 22mn t blended in Malaysia and 84mn t at ports in China, Spinelli said.
He acknowledged the damage caused by Vale's dam accident in January to Brazil and markets. The accident halted 93mn t/yr of output in the first quarter. Of this, Vale has restored 42mn t/yr of production. It expects to resume another 20mn t/yr of output by the end of 2019 and recover another 30mn t/yr of capacity in two to three years as it decommissions and replaces dams, Spinelli said.
