Steel Products Prices North America
Iron Ore Co. of Canada Declares Force Majeure
Written by Michael Cowden
April 5, 2021
Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) has declared force majeure on its contracts after a fire at its port facilities in Sept-Îles, Quebec.
The blaze broke out on the No. 2 reclaimer on March 31, and the cause of the fire “remains unknown at this time,” the Canadian iron ore miner and pellet producer said.
“An investigation process is ongoing, and IOC is still assessing the impact on its operation. IOC has declared force majeure on its contracts and is working with customers to minimize disruption,” the company said in a press release Saturday, April 3.
IOC makes and exports iron ore pellets and high-grade concentrate with iron content of more than 66%, according to its website.
The company’s operations include a mine, a concentrator and a pelletizing plant near Labrador City in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
IOC also owns port operations in Sept-Îles.
The company has annual capacity of 23.0 million metric tonnes of high-grade concentrate fines, and it can process that material into up to 12.5 million tonnes per year of value-added pellets.
IOC is a joint venture between Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tino (58.7%), Japanese trading company Mitsubishi (26.2%), and Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Corp. (15.1%).
A Rio Tinto spokesman declined to to say whether customers in North America or elsewhere might be most impacted by IOC’s force majeure declaration.
“We ship to customers worldwide, so no impact on a particular geography as far as I know,” he said.
By Michael Cowden, michael@steelmarketupdate.com
Michael Cowden
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