Ukraines IUD increasing imports of Brazilian iron ore

Industrial Union of Donbass (IUD) is increasing imports of iron ore commodities from Brazil’s MBR (Miniracoes Brasierias Reunidas S.A.), a source at the Transportation and
Communications Ministry told Interfax.

He said that on Saturday a second ship with about 72,000 tonnes of Brazilian concentrate arrived in Ukraine. The second ship, unlike the first, will be unloaded in Nikolayev’s Oktyabrsky port, rather than in Ilyichevsk.

The official said that the Ilyichevsk port cannot currently unload bulk cargo, as it is busy with ore from Russia’s Kovdorsky GOK that is being exported to China.

But the Oktyabrsky port is also unlikely to be able to handle Brazilian concentrate on a regular basis, as it only has capacity for 1 million tonnes of general cargo per year and it specializes in packaged goods, he said. Therefore, the ship will initially be unloaded at
anchor, and after about 25,000 tonnes are unloaded it will enter the port.

This scheme further increases the price of the imported concentrate, the ministry official said.

All this indicates that the logistics of the shipments have not been worked out, he said. Ukrainian ports do not have the infrastructure to import concentrate, since the country is one of the world’s top ten producers of iron ore commodities, and has always exported, not imported
them.

The chairman of Ukrainian mining association Ukrrudprom, Valery Kolosov said trial batches of Brazilian concentrate are now being imported.

“However, if imports of iron ore commodities will present a threat to domestic mining companies, we will seek by all possible legal means to restrict imports of this product into the country,” Kolosov said in an interview with Interfax.

IUD began importing iron ore concentrate from MBR in December 2006. A ship arrived at the Ilyichevsk Seaport at the end of December with 56,000 tonnes of Brazilian concentrate for the AMK, which began using the concentrate in January.

The concentrate has low moisture and impurities content, and iron content of about 67%, he said.

The declared price of the concentrate on delivery at the Kommunarsk station was $82 per tonne. Ukrainian concentrate with iron content of over 63% that is delivered to AMK is now priced at $54 per tonne.

Source: www.interfax.com