Nucor to buy DRI from Brazil

Brazil-based iron mining firm Samarco has approved a five-year extension with Nucor Corp., Charlotte, North Carolina, to supply direct-reduced iron (DRI) pellets to the electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaker.

Samarco says its supply agreement to the operator of a network of recycled-content EAF mills fits in with Nucor’s status as “one of the first steelmakers in North America with net zero, science-based greenhouse gas (GHG) targets for 2050, which includes Scopes 1, 2 and 3 [emissions].”

Samarco CEO Rodrigo Vilela says demand for DRI pellets is on an upward trajectory, driven by decarbonization as industries increasingly turn to materials 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,” Vilela says. “Samarco is also working to meet all such established goals [by] 2050.”

He also says the new long-term agreement with Nucor comes in line with the restart of Samarco’s third pelletizing plant, currently scheduled for January 2025. With that ramp up, Samarco says it will almost double its production from its current 9 million tons of pellets per year to 16.5 million tons of iron pellets per year.