BEIJING – Brazilian iron-ore miner Vale signed a service agreement with China's Ningbo Zhoushan Port to jointly launch a new iron-ore product, GF88, the Chinese port company said on Wednesday.
Under the agreement Ningbo Zhoushan Port will provide services for Vale's new product, including site construction, grinding and processing, loading and storage, the port said on its website.
Vale said in September it would start supplying a high-grade iron ore product - GF88 - produced by grinding its flagship Carjas IOCJ 65% Fe fines in the first quarter of 2020.
"The production of GF88 does not require fuel and water, so it won't generate tailings and waste water," Vale said in a statement, adding that the product could provide raw material for pellet making.
"It is a new product customised for China's new era," said Vale.
China's demand for iron ore pellets and high-quality ore is expected to be driven in 2020 by Beijing's push to shift dozens of steel mills to coastal regions in its battle to stop smog blanketing industrial cities.
The commencement date and amount of GF88 production are still under discussion between the two companies, a spokesman from Ningbo Zhoushan Port told Reuters.
The product will be manufactured at the Shulanghu ore transfer terminal in east China's Zhejiang province, according to the Ningbo firm.