Brazilian iron ore miner Samarco and North American steelmaker Nucor have signed a new five-year commercial agreement for the supply of iron ore direct reduction pellets.
Nucor is the largest steel producer in the United States and the largest recycler of scrap in North America.
According to Rodrigo Vilela, Samarco’s chief executive officer, the demand for pellets, especially direct reduction pellets, is on an upward trajectory driven by the decarbonization path as industries are increasingly turning to cleaner alternatives that emit fewer greenhouse gases during production.
“The initiatives and actions taken to reduce CO2 emissions are a global reality, and Samarco has all the attributes to become a strategic supplier in terms of decarbonization and will accomplish this through joint developments with strategic customers such as Nucor.''
Rodrigo Vilela, Samarco’s chief executive officer
“The initiatives and actions taken to reduce CO2 emissions are a global reality, and Samarco has all the attributes to become a strategic supplier in terms of decarbonization and will accomplish this through joint developments with strategic customers such as Nucor. Samarco is also working to meet all such established goals until 2050.”
Vilela also said that this new long-term agreement with Nucor comes in line with the return of Samarco’s third pelletizing plant currently scheduled for January 2025 when Samarco will almost double its production from current 9Mt/yr of pellets into 16.5Mt/yr.