Belo Horizonte, March 8, 2024 - Brazilian iron ore miner Samarco and North American steelmaker Nucor extend their relationship through (5-year) long-term commercial agreement for the supply of iron ore direct reduction pellets.

Nucor is one of the first steel makers in North America with net-zero, science-based greenhouse gas targets for 2050, which includes Scopes 1, 2 & 3 and is also the largest recycler and one of the most sustainable manufacturers in North America.

The company is the largest and most diversified steel and steel products producer and a leading producer of merchant bar & rebar, engineered bar, structural steel, carbon steel plate, and sheet steel products and technologies in North America.

According to Rodrigo Vilela Samarco’s Chief Executive Officer, the demand for pellets, especially direct reduction pellets, is on an upward trajectory driven by the decarbonization path as industries are increasingly turning to cleaner alternatives that emit fewer greenhouse gases during production. “The initiatives and actions taken to reduce CO2 emissions are a global reality, and Samarco has all the attributes to become a strategic supplier in terms of decarbonization and will accomplish this through joint developments with strategic customers such as Nucor. Samarco is also working to meet all such established goals until 2050.”

Vilela also said that this new long-term agreement with Nucor comes in line with the return of Samarco’s third pelletizing plant currently scheduled for January 2025 when Samarco will almost double its production from current 9 million tons of pellets per year into 16.5 million tons of pellets per year.