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Vale, a diversified mining company, launched the first phase of its $1.4 billion industrial complex at the Sohar Industrial Port in Oman for the Middle East’s first pelletising plant.

The plant with an initial production capacity of 9 Mtpy of direct reduction pellets and a distribution centre with capacity to handle 40 Mtpy is expected to meet the demand of the region’s steel clusters when it begins operations towards the end of 2010.

Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, Minister of National Economy and Deputy Chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, laid the cornerstone for the Vale industrial complex in the presence of Roger Agnelli, CEO and President of Vale.

The event was attended by a number of Omani ministers, diplomats and businessmen from Oman.

Agnelli said the Sohar venture was his company’s biggest ferrous-related investment outside Brazil. “We want to emerge as the biggest investor in the mining business and the Sultanate of Oman.”

The Sohar Industrial Port’s strategic location outside the Strait of Hormuz fits well with Vale’s growth plans, offering several logistics advantages for the supply of direct reduction pellets to the Middle Eastern, North African and Indian 
steel markets.

Courtesy: www.khaleejtimes.com