Vale halting operations at pellet plants

Vale will temporarily halt operations at its São Luís and Tubarão I and II pellet plants starting Oct. 8 and Nov. 13 respectively, the company said in a news release.

An additional portion of the miner's iron ore production will be allocated to increase sinter feed supply, reducing pellet feed availability for the pelletizing process.

The two plants affected by the move produced about 4.93 million tons of pellets in the first half of 2012, or 18.3 per cent of Vale's total. The company will reassign both plants' employees to other operations.