Texas Court Denies Defendants’ Attempt to Dismiss Iron Ore Lawsuit

Defendants among world’s largest producers of iron and steel

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A Nueces County court has denied efforts by several iron and steel industry giants, including two Texas-based companies, to dismiss a lawsuit alleging a conspiracy by the defendants to unlawfully convert, transport, and sell more than 100 million tons of low-grade iron ore.

The lawsuit, filed in October 2023 by a Brazilian company known as Itabiriçu, includes claims for tortious interference against the defendants, including ArcelorMittal Texas HBI LLC, and ArcelorMittal Texas HBI Holdings LLC, subsidiaries of ArcelorMittal S.A., a multinational steel manufacturing company and the second-largest steel producer in the world.

According to the filing, Voestalpine Texas, LLC and Voestalpine US Holding LLC purchased the ore from Vale SA, a global mining company with operations in more than 30 countries, for a sum estimated in the billions of dollars. The lawsuit states that the iron ore was imported through the port of Corpus Christi, processed in Voestalpine’s plant in Corpus Christi, and then shipped worldwide through the port.

“Vale and ArcelorMittal have admitted that the sale occurred, and shipping manifests confirm the delivery to Nueces County,” says Michael K. Hurst of Dallas-based Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, attorneys for Itabiriçu. “The facts show that the receipt, conversion and sale of property worth billions of dollars that rightfully belonged to my client occurred here in Nueces County, and this action by the court is completely correct. We look forward to taking these claims to trial.”

The Texas lawsuit follows nearly a decade of successful legal actions brought by Itabiriçu before Brazilian federal courts that upheld the company’s ownership and rights to access and reprocess the ore. The company is an early adopter of reprocessing technology that allows for the extraction of high-grade iron from what had historically been considered toxic and unusable materials.

The case is Itabiriçu Nacional de Pesquisa Mineral Ltda v. Vale SA, et al, Case No. 2023CCV-61340-2 in County Court at Law No.2 in Nueces County. Itabiriçu is represented by Michael P. Lynn, Michael K. Hurst, Greg A. Brassfield, Chloe M. Teeter, and Kyle A. Gardner of Lynn, Pinker, Hurst & Schwegmann LLP, Raymond L. Thomas of Ray Thomas PC, and John Flood of John T. Flood LLP.