Anglo American sent a letter this week to Brazilian logistics firm Prumo, saying recent incidents at its Minas-Rio iron ore slurry pipeline may lead to a breach in undisclosed contracts, according to a Prumo document filing.
Anglo American is also a partner with Prumo at Brazil’s Port of Açú iron ore terminal, known as Terminal 1, with a 26.6 million mt/year iron ore shipping capacity.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, two bursts on March 12 and March 29 at Anglo’s 529kmlong (328milelong) Minas-Rio pellet feed-transporting slurry pipeline, connecting different cities in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, led the iron ore producer to halt both production and iron ore sales.
SteelOrbis reported Anglo American ran out of iron ore inventory, while also losing an operating license from a local environment authority.
In the letter sent to Prumo, Anglo said the events will “force” the company to not comply with its part in existing iron ore shipment deals. Prumo said it will investigate the causes of the incidents and is yet to decide if the incidents were of “force majeure” or not.