---
title: Iron Ore Pelletization Technology
type: technology
url: "https://www.envisioning.com/research/stratum/brazil__iron-ore-pelletization-technology"
hub: stratum
summary: "Brazil pioneered industrial-scale iron ore pelletization — compressing fine ore into marble-sized pellets for blast furnaces — now the world's largest pellet exporter"
---

# Iron Ore Pelletization Technology

Brazil pioneered industrial-scale iron ore pelletization — compressing fine ore into marble-sized pellets for blast furnaces — now the world's largest pellet exporter
- Technology Readiness Level: 9/9
- Impact: 3/5
- Investment: 2/5
Iron ore fines are too small to feed directly into blast furnaces. Pelletization agglomerates them into uniform, marble-sized pellets at high temperatures (1,200-1,350°C). Brazil built the first pelletizing plants in the 1960s and is now the world's largest producer and exporter of iron ore pellets.

Vale operates the world's largest pellet production complex at Tubarão (Vitória, Espírito Santo), with multiple plants producing different pellet grades for blast furnace and direct reduction routes. The pellets are higher in iron content and more uniform than raw ore, commanding premium prices.

Pelletization is an example of value-added resource processing: instead of exporting raw iron ore, Brazil transforms it into a higher-value industrial input. The new briquette technology (entry #39) represents the next evolution — achieving similar or better metallurgical performance at lower temperatures and emissions.

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Source: Envisioning — Technology Research Institute (https://www.envisioning.com/research/stratum/brazil__iron-ore-pelletization-technology)