Speaking during the FII Priority Summit, Eduardo Bartolomeo, CEO of the Brazilian miner Vale, informed that the company’s current iron ore exports to the Middle East, 27 million mt per year, could be increased to 70 million mt per year, without mentioning deadlines.
According to Bartolomeo, the increase could be based on the development of “mega-hubs”, industrial complexes where steel can be produced from iron ore of higher quality grades, helping to reduce emissions and to increase productivity at steel plants.
Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) is one of such products, that could be produced in specific plants located in the mega-hubs.
Bartolomeo mentioned that mega-hubs could be developed in Oman, where Vale already hosts a pellet plant, in Abu Dhabi and in Saudi Arabia, the later to ultimately supply the domestic demand for steel products, while in the other two the focus would be exports.
The FII Priority Summit was sponsored by Saudi Arabia, as an international meeting point for CEO’s and executives, having taken place on 13 June in Rio de Janeiro.
