Brazilian mining and metals giant Vale (NYSE: RIO) is considering building two new steel plants in northern Brazil's Pará and Maranhão states, a company official said Monday.
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"The city of São Luis [in Maranhão] is a fantastic locality for a venue from a logistics point of view," Vale director of steel development James Pessoa told BNamericas on the sidelines of the Coaltrans Brazil 2008 conference held in Rio de Janeiro.
Pessoa mentioned as advantages São Luis' proximity to Vale's Carajás iron ore mine and to major waterways such as the Marajó Basin and the Tocantins river which flows into Vale's ports on the northern coast.
The Vale director added that he was in São Luis last week speaking with local authorities. The company is hoping to find a 10Mm2 site to accommodate a possible 5Mt/y steel production facility, Pessoa said.
Officially, Vale is building three new steel facilities in Brazil with investments of US$10bn. One is a joint venture with China's Baosteel in the southeast of Espírito Santo state - called Companhia Siderurgica Vitória - due to come online in 2011 and have a 5Mt/y output.
Meanwhile in the northeast, Vale is building Companhia Siderúrgica Pecém, a JV with South Korea's Dongkuk in the state of Ceará with production starting at 2.5Mt/y and expandable to 5.0 Mt/y. The plant opening is set for 2012.
The third project underway is Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlântico, a JV with Germany-based ThyssenKrupp near Rio de Janeiro, set to be completed by 2009. Atlântico is designed to produce 5Mt/y.
