Venezuela’s Briquetera del Caroni targets 450,000 mt/year production goal

Venezuelan state-run HBI producer Briquetera del Caroni (Briqcar) produced 127,000 mt of HBI in 2016; this year the company has targeted a 400,000-450,000 mt/year production goal.

The company’s increased production target was due to a stronger commitment in the supply of pellets from other state-run producers, including Ferrominera and steelmaker Sidor.

“We had problems with the supply of the feedstock from the pellets plants from Sidor and Ferrominera in 2016, but this year we’ve reached a major maintenance [at those plants,] with a $3 million investment to make capacity increase to between 500,000-600,000 mt/year,” the company’s CEO, Antonio Rivas said. Despite the expected increased capacity, Briqcar is unlikely to operate at full capacity.

The executive said Briqcar’s products should be shipped at both the domestic and the export markets. It should export 90 percent of its production, he said.

The executive noted the HBI could be sold at $220/mt in the export market, a much more attractive rate when compared to that of the domestic market.

Another state-run HBI producer, Briquetera del Orinoco, announced recently it also plans to double output by 2017. In 2016 it produced 240,000 mt of HBI, however, output should more than double to 522,500 mt in the on-going year.