Samarco and German steelmaker Rogesa signed a memorandum of understanding in August to explore technical and commercial partnerships for the supply of high quality iron ore pellets (direct reduction). The objective of the partnership is to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions.

Rogesa is a European steel producer, a joint subsidiary of the two steel companies in Saarland, Dillinger and Saarstahl, with each company holding a 50% direct and indirect interest. Rogesa produces steel from two blast furnaces and supplies the steel mills in Dillinger and Saarstahl with liquid steel. These two companies are currently working on a project to build a direct reduction module in the city of Dillingen, Germany. This is an important project that aims to produce steel with greater efficiency in terms of CO₂ emissions.

"We are pleased to intensify our long and good partnership with Samarco through this memorandum of understanding. The joint initiative is another step towards CO₂ reduction and sustainability in steel production," said the Chairman of the Board of Directors from Dillinger and Saarstahl, Karl-Ulrich Köhler.

Both Brazil and Germany have carbon emissions reduction targets and strategic partnerships like this will be necessary to achieve these targets.

According to the president of Samarco, Rodrigo Vilela, the initiatives and actions to reduce CO₂ are a global reality and the company is working to fulfill all the established goals. Vilela also stated that Samarco has all the conditions to contribute to the global steel industry in favor of sustainability, becoming a strategic supplier also in terms of decarbonization.

“A customer since 1978, Rogesa has been a partner of Samarco for many years and this initiative is important for companies to be prepared for the future, redesigning their processes aiming at the best technical solutions that reinforce sustainability,” said Renato Pereira, Head of Commercial and Marketing at Samarco.

Samarco remains committed to the pursuit of its purpose of making mining different and sustainable, capable of generating results and building value for society.