On March 26, Henan-based Chinese steelmaker Anyang Steel broke ground for an iron ore pellet project with a planned annual output of 1.2 million mt. On October 23, 2009, Anyang Steel had entered into an agreement with Brazil-based iron ore miner Vale to establish a joint venture pellet plant in China's Henan Province.
Anyang Steel is the largest steel producer in Henan Province with an annual capacity of over 10 million mt, while Vale is the largest iron ore producer and exporter in the world. The cooperation of the two companies is expected to boost the development of both Anyang Steel and the Chinese steel market.
Anyang Steel has a total annual requirement of 4.7 million mt of pellets, and to date has been sourcing about 3 million mt of this volume from imports. Thus, upon completion, the new project is expected to reduce the steelmaker's need for pellet imports.