Demand for high-quality iron ore pellets is likely to be supported by steel mills' attempts to reduce their emissions levels, according to Humberto Oliveira, Vale's head of technical marketing for the direct-reduction (DR) market.
"The scenario of improved steel profitability, high coking coal prices and the environmental restrictions imposed during 2017 in China meant that steel mills increased their volumes of high-grade ores such as [Vale's ~65% Fe content] Carajas iron ore," Oliveira said on Wednesday April 25 at Metal Bulletin's 6th World DRI & Pellet Congress in Dubai.Chinese government policies, especially those limiting pollution, will continue to be a factor affecting coking coal prices in 2018, he added.Metal Bulletin's cfr China premium hard coking coal index...