Brazilian iron ore miner Vale announced the start of construction of the Zhongzhai pre-blending project, a partnership among Vale, the Jiangsu Shagang Group and the Ningbo Zhoushan Port Company.
The project, now under construction by the Zhoushan Port, is expected to start operations during the second half of 2023, will develop silo-blending facilities for up to 8 different ores, with a 15 million mt of yearly capacity, in the Zhongzhai Ore Terminal, in Zhejiang Province of China.
The blended ores will be exclusively supplied to Shagang after project completion, with Vale committed to supply part of the blended cargos, with high-quality products such as the BRBF grade, and to provide technical assistance on the blending activities. The ore terminal has a 300,000 mt of unloading capacity and can receive vessels of the Guaibamax category.
The service will replace a process usually performed at the steel plants before the sintering process. According to Vale, the service will increase value to its clients with multiple benefits, including iron ore blends quality improvement, logistics efficiency and reduction of raw material inventories at steel plants.