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Vale tested whether iron ore pellets could be fired without anthracite coal at its Vargem Grande pelletizing plant in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The company reported commercial-quality pellets from an industrial-scale trial using biocarbon, a fuel made by carbonizing biomass. This was a process demonstration—not confirmation that coal-free firing is now routine.
How can iron ore pellets be made without coal?
Pellets are small agglomerates of iron ore used in steel production. At Vargem Grande, Vale substituted biocarbon for anthracite in the pellet-firing step. The trial progressively raised the share of biocarbon, beginning at 50% and reaching 100% of the fossil fuel used for firing.
Vale reported producing about 50 tons of pellets overall, including 15 tons fired using 100% biocarbon from certified sources. The company described the output as commercial quality and the result as the first such industrial-scale achievement for Vale. That claim is narrower than saying it was the first coal-free iron ore pellet ever made worldwide.
Why replace anthracite in pelletizing?
Vale said in 2023 that anthracite accounted for approximately 50% of CO2 emissions from its pelletizing process, and that pelletizing represented 30% of the company’s Scope 1 emissions. These are Vale’s figures for its own operations, not independent estimates for the iron-ore or steel industries as a whole.
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Replacing anthracite in firing therefore targets a significant source of Vale’s reported pelletizing emissions. But the trial did not remove coal from the broader iron and steel value chain: its substitution was limited to fuel used to fire the pellets.
What the trial establishes—and what it does not
| Measure | What Vale’s trial supports | What remains unestablished |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel substitution | Biocarbon reached 100% of the fossil fuel used in the firing step for part of the trial. | Whether this operating mode is now used routinely. |
| Pellet quality | Vale described the trial output as commercial quality. | Long-duration or repeated commercial performance. |
| Emissions | Vale identified anthracite as a substantial source of its pelletizing CO2 emissions. | A quantified net emissions reduction for the trial or a full lifecycle comparison of anthracite and biocarbon. |
Biomass-derived fuel is not automatically emissions-free across its full lifecycle. The available disclosures do not quantify emissions from sourcing, processing, or transporting the biocarbon, so they do not establish the trial’s net climate impact.
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Has Vale adopted coal-free pellet firing?
Not on the evidence available here. Vale said in 2023 that it planned longer-duration tests before developing the engineering needed for definitive implementation. Its 2025 CDP disclosure still described further testing and engineering as necessary. The status after that 2025 disclosure is unconfirmed; the trial alone does not prove either a commercial rollout or abandonment.
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