São Paulo – Last Saturday (30th) in Oman, Brazilian mining company Vale started producing pellets in its first plant of the type in the Middle East. The industrial complex located in Sohar received US$ 1.356 billion in investment and will be used as a manufacturing hub for the Middle East, India and North Africa. In a press statement, the mining company states that the plant Sohar will cater to the growing demand for iron ore in the region. Testing at the complex was halted early this year due to the turmoil in the Arab world.
The partnership between Vale and the Omani government was signed in May last year, when the Brazilian mining company sold 30% of the plant to the Oman Oil Company. The two pelletization units in the Sohar complex have capacity for producing 4.5 million metric tonnes per year each. The distribution centre, located in the same complex, is capable of moving 40 million metric tonnes per year.
In the press statement, the CEO of Vale, Roger Agnelli, claims that Oman’s strategic position, with its deep seas, infrastructure investment, good facilities at the Sohar industrial port, and advanced power supply technology have driven the mining company to invest in the sultanate.
As part of Vale’s strategy to make Oman into one of its largest manufacturing operations in the Middle East, the company should complete the construction of a deepwater terminal in partnership with the Sohar Industrial Port Company by June. The mining company signed a long-term contract with another local enterprise, the Oman Shipping Company, which will build four ships, with capacity for carrying 400,000 tonnes of cargo. One ship unloader and three loaders have already been delivered to the Brazilian company.
Vale claims that it has invested US$ 40 billion in "innovative technologies," such as a system that reuses 100% of the water used in the plant’s operations, and another that controls the emission of particulates. The new industrial complex should generate 720 direct and 1,800 indirect jobs.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
