The chairman of the Brazilian steel manufacturer CSN (Companhia Siderurgica Nacional), Benjamin Steinbruch, said that the construction project of the Rio de Janeiro cement plant is completed and may involve the initial production of 1.5Mta. The company aims to use blast furnace slag and limestone as raw materials to cement production. Meanwhile CSN intends to start iron ore exports by 2006 or 2007 after the expansion of the mine Casa de Pedra is completed. However the company is appealing the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense Cade (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica) against the mining company CVRD (Companhia Vale do Rio Doce) to the suspension of the signed contract in 2001 to the supplying of iron ore surplus from Casa de Pedra to Vale for 30 years.   Published under Cement News