Nacional Minerios SA, the mining unit of steelmaker Cia Siderurgica Nacional SA, plans to invest USD1.3 billion in two iron ore pellet plants in Brazil.

Mr Charles Putz CEO of Namisa said that the plants set to start up in 2012 and 2014 will produce a combined 12 million tonnes a year. The units, along with a 20 million tonne per year concentrator plant will be built in Congonhas, next to CSN’s Casa de Pedra iron-ore mine in Minas Gerais state.

Mr Putz said that Namisa aims to boost iron-ore sales to 40 million tons in 2014 from 16 million at present to meet tremendous growth expected in the global iron-ore market.

He added that global demand for the steelmaking ingredient will rise to 1.4 billion tonnes by 2015, from about 886 million this year mostly because of growth in China.

Mr Putz said that “The market for pellet feed will grow faster in the future. We’re going to add value to the ore produced at Casa de Pedra.”

(Sourced from Bloomberg.net)