Rio Tinto sells first iron ore cargo to Vietnam’s Dung Quat Steel

17-Sep-2018

Australian miner Rio Tinto’s first cargo of iron ore sold to Vietnam’s Hoa Phat Dung Quat Steel Joint Stock Company in June was expected to load in the second half of September, a Dung Quat Steel source said Wednesday.

Rio Tinto was not available for comment when contacted on Wednesday. The Panamax shipment comprising Pilbara Blend fines, Pilbara Blend lump and HIY fines totaled 90,000 mt, the source said.

Dung Quat used to buy Brazilian fines from Vale as well as Fortescue Blend fines from the Fortescue Metals Group.

“This is a trial shipment for us. We are not sure how it will fit into our blast furnace system as yet,” the source said.

Dung Quat is building its own port with two berths to accommodate Capesize ships.

“There is a possibility that we buy more Australian fines in the future,” the source said.

The company has the capacity to produce 2 million mt/year of long products. It plans to expand its capacity by 4.8 million-5 million mt of both long and flat steel products by 2020, the company source said.

Source: S&P GLOBAL PLATTS