On October 28, the Brazilian mining company Vale, one of the largest iron ore producers in the world, announced that it had cooperated with China's Jinnan Steel Group to build an iron ore processing factory in Oman to produce high-quality pelletizing.

According to the Vale, with an initial investment of more than US$ 600 million, the factory to be set up in the port and free trade zone of Sohar, in Oman, will supply iron ore for the local production of pelletizing and hot briquetted iron (HBI), reducing the environmental impact. The Vale will invest US$ 227 million in the connection of the processing factory and the pelletizing and HBI production facility, while Jinnan Steel will invest around US$ 400 million in the construction and operation of the factory.

The Sohar factory is scheduled to start operating in mid-2027 that is expexted to process 18 million metric tons of iron ore per year and to produce 12.6 million tons of high-grade iron concentrate.

(Source: Business Daily, on October 28)