Vale, the world’s second-biggest iron-ore supplier, picked its former investor relations head Ivan Fadel as CEO for a new business that aims to make cleaner fuel for steelmaking, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Fadel will head up Vale’s subsidiary Bionow, which has been formed to produce biocarbon — a zero-emission product obtained by carbonizing biomass. The business is in its early stages and is focused on research and development for now, said the person. In a test in March, Vale replaced coal with biocarbon as a way to fire iron ore pellets used in steelmaking.
Fadel joined Vale in 2014 from Credit Suisse Group, where he covered the Rio de Janeiro-based company as an equity analyst before becoming a vice president in investment banking. He has been Vale’s head of investor relations since 2020, and earlier managed the company’s joint ventures business and served as investments director for fertilizer and coal.