TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Vale, the world's biggest iron-ore producer, has agreed to sell 30% of its Vale Oman Pelletising Company (VOPC) to a government-owned firm in Oman.

Oman Oil Company will pay $125-million for the stake, Vale said in a statement.

The company said the sale is “is in line with Vale’s business strategy to preserve long-term partnerships with key local players to support the implementation of greenfield projects”.

VOPC was created by Vale to manage the construction and operation of its new pelletising plant being developed in Oman.

The Brazilian group is also investing in an industrial logistics centre, which will include a maritime terminal and a distribution centre with handling capacity of up to 40-million tons a year of iron-ore and pellets, inside the Sohar industrial port complex in Oman.

The pelletising plant is scheduled to start up in the second half of this year, and will have a nominal production capacity of nine-million tons a year of direct reduction pellets.

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