AD Ports and Brazil’s Vale ink an agreement to develop a mega low-carbon steel hub

Brazil’s Vale, UAE’s AD Ports to establish a hub for low-carbon steel materials: The UAE’s ADPorts Group and Brazilian mining firm Vale have inked an MoU to develop a mega steelmaking hub in Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (Kezad) to source materials essential to low-carbon steel production for Abu Dhabi steel manufacturing sector, according to a statement. Kezad would allocate land and related services to support Vale and AD’s planned project under the agreement, the statement notes. The timeline, production capacity, and price tag of the integrated industrial complex were not disclosed.

The facility: Vale and AD Ports’ hub in Kezad will produce low-carbon products for the steelmaking industry for both local and overseas markets, the statement said.

What they said: “We are encouraged by this opportunity to build a mega hub in the UAE, a country which is strategically positioned to positively influence our drive to significantly reduce CO2 emissions around the globe. Our ability to leverage this new concept of using low-carbon technology in the production of hot briquetted iron (HBI) signals the success of our products globally,” Vale CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo said in the statement.

Vale is also expanding its operations in Oman: The Brazilian firm — which in February signed an agreement to repurchase its 30% stake in Vale Oman from Omani state-owned energy investment company OQ — finalized a land reservation agreement with the Port of Duqm Company for three production plants that will source materials essential to Oman’s low-carbon steel making industry this week. The three production facilities will secure materials critical to green steel production including hot briquette iron (HBI) — which is60% less carbon-intensive than conventional materials when produced using natgas — and direct reduced iron.

And KSA may be getting a Vale iron ore production hub: Vale signed an MoU with Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Development Center back in November to study establishing a USD 1.1 bn iron ore pellet mega hub producing some 4 mn tons of iron ore pellets annually in KSA’s Ras Al-Khair industrial zone.