Brazilian iron ore miner Vale has announced that it has signed a deal with Latin America’s largest commercial port, Port of Açu, to study the possibility of building a mega hub at the port to produce HBI (hot briquetted iron) using the direct reduction method.
Accordingly, Vale initially will supply pellets to the mega hub and in the future the mega hub will likely have an iron ore briquette plant to support the direct reduction method. Both parties will attract investors to build and operate a direct reduction plant fed by natural gas that will be available at the port. This plant will have the potential to convert natural gas to green hydrogen and produce HBI with near-zero carbon emissions.
Mega Hubs are industrial complexes designed to produce low-carbon steel products and Vale has already begun building such hubs in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman.