Thu Jun 2, 2011 10:37pm GMT
* Nucor has ore accords for 1st of 4 Louisiana DRI units
* Brazilian, Canadian companies to supply Nucor DRI ore
* Nucor has 20-year natural gas deal for new DRI unit
* Nucor considers future Brazil joint venture expansion
By Jeb Blount and Alberto Alerigi
RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO, June 2 (Reuters) - Nucor, (NUE.N: Quote) the second-largest U.S. steelmaker, has contracts with Vale SA, Samarco and Iron Ore Co of Canada to supply ore to the first of four iron-production units to be built near New Orleans, Chief Executive Dan Dimicco said.
The St. James Parish, Louisiana direct-reduction-iron, or DRI unit also has a 20-year, natural-gas supply contract, Dimicco told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Sao Paulo. He declined to name the supplier.
The ore for the Louisiana unit will come from Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote) and Samarco mines in Brazil and IOC mines in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, he said. Samarco is a joint mining and pellet venture between Vale and BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote). IOC's main shareholders are Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote) and Mitsubishi. (8058.T: Quote)
These are the same sources for iron ore used at Nucor's 2-million-tonne-a-year DRI mill in Trinidad and Tobago.
Dimicco also said Nucor is considering Brazil for future expansion.
"We are more than comfortable to be a strong minority shareholder, something like 49 percent would be our objective," he said. "We have to have a strong partner with operating experience."
DRI is used to make sponge iron, a raw material mixed with scrap metal in electric blast furnaces to make steel.
Sponge iron requires less energy to make than pig iron, the main new iron source for electric mills, and has more iron content. This allows steelmakers to use lower-quality scrap when making steel.
The St. James Parish facility is expected to group the DRI units in two plants with the capacity to produce 5.5 million tons (4.99 million tonnes) of sponge iron a year and require an investment of $3 billion, Nucor said in March. (Editing by Robert MacMillan, sourced Thomson Reuters)
* Nucor has ore accords for 1st of 4 Louisiana DRI units
* Brazilian, Canadian companies to supply Nucor DRI ore
* Nucor has 20-year natural gas deal for new DRI unit
* Nucor considers future Brazil joint venture expansion
By Jeb Blount and Alberto Alerigi
RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO, June 2 (Reuters) - Nucor, (NUE.N: Quote) the second-largest U.S. steelmaker, has contracts with Vale SA, Samarco and Iron Ore Co of Canada to supply ore to the first of four iron-production units to be built near New Orleans, Chief Executive Dan Dimicco said.
The St. James Parish, Louisiana direct-reduction-iron, or DRI unit also has a 20-year, natural-gas supply contract, Dimicco told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Sao Paulo. He declined to name the supplier.
The ore for the Louisiana unit will come from Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote) and Samarco mines in Brazil and IOC mines in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada, he said. Samarco is a joint mining and pellet venture between Vale and BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote). IOC's main shareholders are Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote) and Mitsubishi. (8058.T: Quote)
These are the same sources for iron ore used at Nucor's 2-million-tonne-a-year DRI mill in Trinidad and Tobago.
Dimicco also said Nucor is considering Brazil for future expansion.
"We are more than comfortable to be a strong minority shareholder, something like 49 percent would be our objective," he said. "We have to have a strong partner with operating experience."
DRI is used to make sponge iron, a raw material mixed with scrap metal in electric blast furnaces to make steel.
Sponge iron requires less energy to make than pig iron, the main new iron source for electric mills, and has more iron content. This allows steelmakers to use lower-quality scrap when making steel.
The St. James Parish facility is expected to group the DRI units in two plants with the capacity to produce 5.5 million tons (4.99 million tonnes) of sponge iron a year and require an investment of $3 billion, Nucor said in March. (Editing by Robert MacMillan, sourced Thomson Reuters)
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