Gulf Construction Online - Vale eyes role in $30bn GCC rail network

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Vale’s pelletising plant.

Vale eyes role in $30bn GCC rail network

01 April 2012

DIVERSIFIED Brazilian industrial giant Vale is in preliminary discussions with Sohar Industrial Port Company and Oman’s Ministry of Transport and Communications to bring its wealth of expertise to Oman’s stretch of the $30-billion GCC rail network.

“Rail transportation plays a fundamental role in Vale’s operations. In all, Vale, which launched the Green Train in Brazil in 2009, operates approximately 10,000 km of railroad tracks in Brazil and has agreements to use railroads in a number of African countries,” said Marcos Beluco, country manager, Vale Oman.

Vale’s business in the region is in iron ore and pellets. “We are currently conducting basic engineering studies for the expansion of the pelletising plant in Oman. Vale’s operations in the sultanate substantiate our commitment to the region and industry. We will continue supplying high-quality ‘clean pellets’ to the region to meet its demand,” he said.

Beluco said the total investment of Vale’s industrial complex in Liwa had exceeded $2 billion, which includes the construction of the jetty built by Sohar Industrial Port Company and the construction of four Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs) by Oman Shipping Company.

Vale’s pelletising plant and distribution centre aims to cut the predicted shortfall of steel in the Middle East region. Its plant has a total production capacity of 9 million tonnes of direct reduction pellets per year and annual throughput capacity of 40 million tonnes.

To maximise its distribution centre capabilities, Vale has partnered with Sohar Industrial Port Company to build a 1.4-km deep-water terminal. This terminal is one of the first ports in the world to receive VLOCs that boast a capacity of 400,000 tonnes and are responsible for transporting the world’s purest iron ore from Brazil to the shores of the sultanate.