Companhia Vale do Rio Doce
Encyclopedia
Vale S.A.
Vale S.A. (BM&F Bovespa: VALE3, VALE5 / , / , / , XVALP / , 6230 is an Brazilian diversified mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 multinational corporation
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...

 and one of the largest logistics operators in Brazil. In addition to being the second-largest mining company in the world, Vale is also the largest producer of iron ore, pellets
Pelletizing
Pelletizing is the process of compressing or molding a material into the shape of a pellet. A wide range of different materials are pelletized including chemicals, iron ore, animal compound feed, and more.- Pelletizing of iron ore :...

, and second largest of nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...

. Vale also produces manganese, ferroalloys, copper, bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...

, potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...

, kaolin, alumina and aluminium. In the electric energy sector, the company participates in consortia and currently operates nine hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 plants.

Currently the company are listed on stock exchanges of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

.

History

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (or CVRD, as the company was better known prior to 2007) (in English, Sweet River Valley Company) was founded in Itabira
Itabira
Itabira is a Brazilian municipal district and one of the main cities of the state of Minas Gerais. The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte and to the microregion of Itabira....

, Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

, as a public company by the Brazilian Federal Government on June 1, 1942. One year later the Vitória a Minas railroad was inaugurated. CVRD, just seven years after its foundation, was already responsible for 80% of Brazilian iron ore exports. In 1966, the company inaugurated in Espirito Santo
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...

 the Port of Tubarão
Port of Tubarão
The Port of Tubarão is a port in Brazil, near the city of Vitória in Espírito Santo. The port was created in 1966 by the Brazilian mining company Vale to export iron ore extracted from the "Iron Quadrangle" in Minas Gerais. In 2007, the Port of Tubarão was the largest iron ore embarking port in the...

, which was to become the most important port for CVRD and is still used to export iron ore mined from the Iron Quadrangle in Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

.

The Carajás Mine, on which Vale still has over 1.5 billion tonnes of iron ore in reserves, started to have Vale as a majority stakeholder in 1970. In 1974, Vale became the world's biggest exporter of iron ore, a title which it still holds today. Then, in 1982, Vale began to diversify itself after it started to produce aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

 in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

. Throughout its history, CVRD’s activities, once restricted to the Southeast, were expanded to the Northeast, Central-West, and North of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, diversifying its mineral product portfolio and consolidating logistic
Logistic
Logistic may refer to:* Logistics, the management of resources and their distributions** Logistic engineering, the scientific study of logistics** Military logistics, the study of logistics at the service of military units and operations...

s services.

Vale in 1985 started to explore the Carajás Mine in the state of Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...

 just after the Carajás railroad was opened and in 1986 Ponta Madeira port terminal, which is still used to export iron ore mined at the Carajás Mines, was inaugurated in the state of Maranhão
Maranhão
Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...

. This railway is gauge.

Vale's privatization in 1997

Vale had its control transferred from the Brazilian Federal Government to the private sector (privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...

) on May 6, 1997, when the Consórcio Brasil (Brazil Consortium), led by the National Steel Company - CSN acquired 41.73% of the Federal Government’s common stock for R$ 3,338 billion, or $3.14 billion at that time. The decision to privatize Vale caused much controversy and some politicians opposed the privatization. Vale remained a public traded company both in the Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (BOVESPA
Bovespa
The BM&FBOVESPA is a stock exchange located at São Paulo, Brazil. As of December 31, 2010 it had a market capitalization of US $1.54 Trillion, making it one of the largest in the world. On May 8, 2008, the São Paulo Stock Exchange and the Brazilian Mercantile and Futures Exchange merged,...

) and NYSE (through American Depositary Receipt
American Depositary Receipt
An American depositary receipt is a negotiable security that represents the underlying securities of a non-U.S. company that trades in the US financial markets...

 - ADR).

Focus and diversification on the mining business

After being privatized, Vale decided to focus exclusively on the mining business. Vale's operations on the energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...

 and logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...

 sectors are meant to primarily reduce the costs and the risks of the company's mining operations and not to generate revenues, so for example even though Vale has invested over $880 million on various energy projects, the energy business generates not even 1% of Vale's total revenues. The company's logistics operations contribute with around 7% of total revenues.

Vale's plan
Plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with timing and resources, used to achieve an objective. See also strategy. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions, through which one expects to achieve a goal...

 to focus on the mining business had three phases:
  • Sale of non strategic assets - mainly the steel
    Steel
    Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

     and wood pulp
    Wood pulp
    Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

     businesses.
  • Consolidation through acquisition of the Brazilian iron ore industry. - completed with the purchase of MBR.
  • Diversification of its mining business in order to reduce Vale's dependence on the iron ore business - achieved with the acquisition of Inco.

Steel and wood pulp businesses are sold

In line with Vale's decision to focus exclusively on its mining business, the company between 2000 and 2007 sold over $2.9 billion in businesses that operated on the steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 and wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

 sectors and effectively withdrew itself from those industries.

Vale's wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

 and paper businesses were all sold in 2001, sales which totaled $990.5 million. Bahia Sul was sold for $320 million, while Cenibra was bought away for $670.5 million.

Vale's steel businesses took longer to be sold away, given the fact that Vale owned participation in many steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 companies. The $1.91 billion divestment
Divestment
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...

 program began in 2000, when the company sold its stake at Açominas and Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional is the second major steel-maker company in Brazil. Its main plant is located in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro...

 for $10 million and $249 million, respectively. Then in 2004 Vale earned $579 million by selling its stake at CST. In 2006 all Vale's stake at Gerdau
Gerdau
Gerdau is the largest producer of long steel in America, with steel mills in Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Peru, Spain, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela. It also holds 40% stake in the Spanish company Sidenor and has a joint...

 and Siderar were sold for $67 million and $108 million respectively, also on that year Vale got $176 million by selling some of its shares of Usiminas. An additional $728 million was earned in 2007 when Vale sold yet more shares of Usiminas, Vale now owns just 3% of Usiminas.

Vale consolidates the Brazilian iron ore industry

The consolidation process that Vale started in 2000 consumed over $4.9 billion when it finished in 2007 Vale had under its control over 85% of Brazil's 300 million tonnes annual iron ore production. Below is a table containing Vale's acquisitions prior to the purchase of Caemi
Caemi
Caemi Mineração e Metalurgia S.A. was a major Brazilian mining holding company that ceased to exist in December 2006 after it was merged into Vale. Caemi means Companhia Auxiliar de Empresas de Mineração.-Operations:...

, which was the most significant one of Vale's consolidation drive in Brazil.
Vale's acquisitions on the Brazilian iron ore industry
Name Price Annual iron ore production at the time Reserves at the time Year Vale's ownership
Socoimex $55 million 7 million tonnes 106 million tonnes 2000 100%
MBR $25 million 2001 5%
Samitri $710 million 17 million tonnes 709 million tonnes 2001 100%
Ferteco $523 million 11.4 million tonnes 138 million tonnes 2001 100%
Rio Verde $47 million 3.5 million tonnes 37 million tonnes 2006 100%


MBR's acquisition

On March 31, 2006, Vale, which already owned 60.2% of Caemi, acquired in a stock swap
Stock swap
A stock swap, also known as a share swap, is a business takeover or acquisition in which the acquiring company uses its own stock to pay for the acquired company. Each shareholder of the newly acquired company receives a certain number of shares of the acquiring company's stock for each share of...

 the remaining 39.8% of Caemi
Caemi
Caemi Mineração e Metalurgia S.A. was a major Brazilian mining holding company that ceased to exist in December 2006 after it was merged into Vale. Caemi means Companhia Auxiliar de Empresas de Mineração.-Operations:...

 for $2.55 billion. In all Vale spent over $3.2 billion acquiring 100% of Caemi
Caemi
Caemi Mineração e Metalurgia S.A. was a major Brazilian mining holding company that ceased to exist in December 2006 after it was merged into Vale. Caemi means Companhia Auxiliar de Empresas de Mineração.-Operations:...

. The acquisition of Caemi
Caemi
Caemi Mineração e Metalurgia S.A. was a major Brazilian mining holding company that ceased to exist in December 2006 after it was merged into Vale. Caemi means Companhia Auxiliar de Empresas de Mineração.-Operations:...

 gave Vale 84.75% of MBR, Brazil's second largest iron ore producer, mining over 60 million tonnes. Together with the 5% stake of MBR acquired in 2001, the acquisition of Caemi
Caemi
Caemi Mineração e Metalurgia S.A. was a major Brazilian mining holding company that ceased to exist in December 2006 after it was merged into Vale. Caemi means Companhia Auxiliar de Empresas de Mineração.-Operations:...

 at the end of 2006 gave Vale a 89.8% ownership of MBR.

Then in 2007 Vale purchased another 3.1% of MBR for $231 million from Mitsui
Mitsui
is one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture...

 and other Japanese investors. That meant that the company raised its stake at MBR to 92.9%, the remaining 7.1% stake at MBR was acquired in lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...

 agreement by Vale for the next 30 years for a down payment
Down payment
Down payment is a payment used in the context of the purchase of expensive items such as a car and a house, whereby the payment is the initial upfront portion of the total amount due and it is usually given in cash at the time of finalizing the transaction.A loan is then required to make the full...

 of $60 million plus an annual fee of $48.1 million. In this way, Vale now owns 100% of MBR for the next 30 years (period of the Lease Agreement).

The acquisition of MBR marked the end of an acquisition campaign that began in 2000, this acquisition campaign was the consequence of Vale's decision to consolidate the iron mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 business in Brazil. After MBR's purchase Vale became the owner of all Brazilian iron ore exporters.

Diversification

Vale's diversification program sought to increase the participation of non-ferrous metals on total revenues reducing, in the process, Vale's dependence on the price of the iron ore for both net income
Net income
Net income is the residual income of a firm after adding total revenue and gains and subtracting all expenses and losses for the reporting period. Net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings...

 and revenues. Business diversification has been achieved mainly with the acquisition of Inco and to a lesser extent with the acquisition of Caemi and managed to increase the participation of non-ferrous metals on total revenues from 7% in 2000 to around 34% in 2006.

Vale branched into copper mining in 2001 when it bought for $48.5 miilion the Sossego Mine located in the Carajás complex.
The Sossego Mine, inaugurated in 2004, was the first Brazilian copper mine. The company expects to extract around 650 thousand tonnes of copper a year from that mine by 2010.

The acquisition of Caemi
Caemi
Caemi Mineração e Metalurgia S.A. was a major Brazilian mining holding company that ceased to exist in December 2006 after it was merged into Vale. Caemi means Companhia Auxiliar de Empresas de Mineração.-Operations:...

 in 2006 also helped Vale's diversification strategy by making the company a kaolin producer through former Caemi
Caemi
Caemi Mineração e Metalurgia S.A. was a major Brazilian mining holding company that ceased to exist in December 2006 after it was merged into Vale. Caemi means Companhia Auxiliar de Empresas de Mineração.-Operations:...

 subsidiaries CADAM S.A. and PPSA. With that acquisition Vale now owns 61.48% and 85.57% of those subsidiaries respectively.

In 2005, Vale bought Canico Resources, a Canadian nickel mining company, for $800 million. This acquisition increased Vale's business diversifiction by bringing non-ferrous metals to its product line up.

Also in accordance with its diversification strategy, Vale has entered the coal mining business. In 2007 the company purchased the Australian coal mining company AMCI Holdings for $656 million. Vale has coal operations in Australia and China, as well as coal mining projects in the Tete province of Mozambique.

Inco is acquired for $18.9 billion

In October 2006, Vale acquired Canada's second largest mining company, Inco, for $18.9 billion, paying Inco's shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....

s $17.7 billion in cash and absorbing Inco's debt of $1.2 billion. This purchase was the largest acquisition ever made by a Brazilian company.

In order to assure the Canadian government's approval of the Inco acquisition, Vale agreed to keep Inco open as its nickel mining division, with its head office to remain in Canada and also agreed that the Inco division would assume responsibility for all Vale's nickel mining business.

Inco, which is now called Vale Inco, specialized in nickel mining. The acquisition of Inco was the most remarkable event of Vale's divesification strategy because it turned Vale into the world's second largest mining company and the world's second largest nickel producer behind Russia's MMC Norilsk Nickel
MMC Norilsk Nickel
MMC Norilsk Nickel is a nickel and palladium mining and smelting company. Its largest operations are located in the Norilsk–Talnakh area, in northern Russia. MMC stands for "Mining and Metallurgical Company"....

.

Vale today

Vale, besides being present in 16 Brazilian states is also present in 6 continents: South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

.

Vale has managed to establish itself as a global mining company through joint ventures and acquisitions abroad. As it can be seen on Vale's Global Operations map, Vale has participation on mining operations in Finland, Canada, Australia, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

, China, India, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

, South Africa, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

 and other countries.

Vale world offices

Vale is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

 together with Log-in subsidiary that deals with logistic and it's also located in Rio de Janeiro, also with some valuable areas located in Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte is the capital of and largest city in the state of Minas Gerais, located in the southeastern region of Brazil. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the country...

.
Vale also has offices in places such as:
Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...

 Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

 Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

 London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 Maputo
Maputo
Maputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...

 Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

 Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

 Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...



On November 2007, the company retired the brand CVRD in favor of the new brand Vale. The company has announced it will spend $50 million establishing its new logo and brand worldwide.

Vale has an investment budget of $11 billion for 2008, the largest annual investment program ever undertaken by Vale or by any mining company in the world. The 2008 budget is part of the firm’s strategic plan and underpins the 5 year, $59 billion investment program, and consequently involves a significant increase in capex
CAPEX
CAPEX, also known as the Kerala State Cashew Workers Apex Industrial Co-operative Society, is an organization managed by the government of Kerala to promote the cashew industry and especially the export market for cashews.-Organization:...

 for organic growth as compared with the period 2003-2007, estimated at $18 billion.

Mining business

Iron Ore: Vale is the world leader in the iron ore and pellets market. The company which produced around 90 million tonnes in the mid 90s is now producing over 250 million tonnes of iron ore and pellets. This means that Vale produces over 60% of all the iron in Brazil and around 15% of all the iron in the world. Brazil has one of the largest iron ore reserves in the world, the mineral that is the most produced and consumed in the world.

Manganese and Alloys: In 1999, Vale incorporated the manganese and alloy business into its structure. Consolidated as the second largest manganese producer in the world, Vale annually produces close to 2.3 million tons of manganese ore and 500,000 tons of manganese alloys.

Nickel: Vale has become the world’s largest producer of nickel, with a production of 250,600 tons. Found in nature in association with iron and sulphur, nickel is a transition element that presents ferrous and non-ferrous metal properties such as resistance to corrosion, alloy formation, ductility and electro-coating settlement among others. By virtue of this characteristic to confer properties to the more noble metallic steels, nickel is demanded mainly by the metallurgical sector, and 63% of such demand is destined to the production of stainless steel.

Copper: Vale's copper production began in the first half of 2004, with the start-up of the Sossego Mine, whose average installed capacity is 140 thousand tons per year of copper in concentrate. The start-up of the copper cathode production plant with extraction by solvent and electrowinning - Project 118 - is estimated for the beginning of 2007. This project will have an installed capacity of 45 thousand tons/year of copper cathodes. Other projects such as Salobo (in feasibility studie) and others under intensive geological survey works in the Carajás region, in Chile and in Peru. In 2006, the consolidation of Vale Inco also increased the total sale of concentrated copper, which amounted to 169 thousand tons. Vale has also entered into an agreement with African Rainbow Minerals
African Rainbow Minerals
African Rainbow Minerals is a mining company based in South Africa. Patrice Motsepe is chairman; André Wilkens is CEO.ARM has interests in a wide range of mines, including platinum and PGMs, iron, coal, copper, and gold. ARM's Goedgevonden coalmine near Witbank is a flagship of their joint venture...

 to build a copper mine in Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

.

Coal: Vale is present in Venezuela, Australia, South Africa, Mozambique and Angola with offices, ore search works and development of new businesses of coal. Currently it has minority stakes on Chinese coal producers, such as Longyu and Shandong Yankuang International Coking Co. Meanwhile, its major project, Moatize, in Mozambique, estimated to produce 14 million ton of metallurgic and energetic coal for 70 years is in economical feasibility study. With AMCI acquisition, Vale added to its coal portfolio the underground coal deposit in Belvedere, Queensland State, Australia, with estimated resources of 2,7 billion of ton.

Potash: Vale produces potash at The Taquari-Vassouras Operational Unit, an underground mine with a treatment plant on the surface. “Taquari-Vassouras” is the name of the ore deposit. This unit is the single manufacturer of potassium chloride (KCl) in activity in Brazil. Potassium Chloride is an important component for the manufacture of fertilizers, and it is obtained through the underground mine of sylvite and later on improved by the flotation process. Presently all production is for domestic market and assure 13% of the Brazilian demand for the product. Since 1992 production comprised 24.7 million tonnes of ROM with an average grade of 31.80 percent KCl, containing a total of 7.8 million tonnes of KCl.

Kaolin: a fine White aluminium silicate used as a coating agent, filler, extender and absorbent in the paper, ceramics and pharmaceutical industries. Despite being abundantly found in nature, its commercial reserves are restricted to Brazil, United Kingdom and the US. At 2006, Vale shipped 1.323 million tons, a volume 8.6% higher than that sold in 2005.

Aluminium

Vale is involved in all stages of aluminium production, from bauxite mining and alumina refining to primary aluminium production. However, the company's main strategy focuses on mining and alumina refining.

Vale has large, undeveloped bauxite reserves and is working toward expansions in alumina refining. For primary aluminium production the company works to develop projects in nations with lower energy costs.

Alumina is the main raw material for aluminium production and it is obtained from the refining of bauxite, an ore abundant in the state of Pará where the company has operations.

Railroads

From 2000 to 2006 Vale invested more than $1.3 billion on the acquisition of over 361 locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...

s and around 14,090 freight cars, those locomotives were primarily for iron ore transportation, but some were for regular cargo. Some of the locomotives purchased were secondhand for refurbishment but at least 55 of the locomotives acquired were new ones of the model EMD SD70M, each one costing about $2 million.

After those investments, Vale became the owner of over 800 locomotives and more than 35,000 freight cars  but the company informed that it will reduce its investment in rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...

 in the coming years.

Vale owns the concession of three Brazilian railways: Vitória a Minas railroad (EFVM), Ferrovia Centro Atlântica (FCA) and Carajás railroad (EFC).
  • Vitória a Minas railroad - Vale operates under a 30 year contract this 905 km railroad, which is used to transport iron from the Iron Quadrangle in Minas Gerais
    Minas Gerais
    Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

     to the Port of Tubarão
    Port of Tubarão
    The Port of Tubarão is a port in Brazil, near the city of Vitória in Espírito Santo. The port was created in 1966 by the Brazilian mining company Vale to export iron ore extracted from the "Iron Quadrangle" in Minas Gerais. In 2007, the Port of Tubarão was the largest iron ore embarking port in the...

     in the state of Espírito Santo
    Espírito Santo
    Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...

     . The concession expires in 2027. This railroad also carried 1.1 million passengers in 2006.
  • Carajás railroad - The concession of this 892 km railroad also expires in 2027, it links Carajás iron ore mines in the state of Pará to Ponta Madeira port terminal in the state of Maranhão
    Maranhão
    Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...

    . Vale plans to operate a train of 3.2 km and 340 cars on this railroad.
  • Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica - Vale controls this railroad through the subsidiary FCA. As it is shown on the Vale's operations map above, this 7,000 km railroad extends through 6 brazilian states, this railroad originally belonged to the RFFSA
    RFFSA
    The Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima was the state-owned national railway company of Brazil. It was created in 1957, and dissolved between 1999–2007.-Constituent Railways:...

    . Vale's concession of this railroad expires in 2026.
  • Vale also has a stake in railway operators in Mozambique and Malawi.

Ports and container terminals

  • Port of Tubarão
    Port of Tubarão
    The Port of Tubarão is a port in Brazil, near the city of Vitória in Espírito Santo. The port was created in 1966 by the Brazilian mining company Vale to export iron ore extracted from the "Iron Quadrangle" in Minas Gerais. In 2007, the Port of Tubarão was the largest iron ore embarking port in the...

     - Vale owns and operates this port located in Vitória in the state of Espirito Santo. It's the largest iron ore embarking port in the world. Around 80 million metric tons of iron ore are shipped through the this port, this means that roughly 30% of Vale's iron ore production are shipped through the Tubarão Port.

  • Ponta Madeira port terminal - Located in the state of Maranhão
    Maranhão
    Maranhão is a northeastern state of Brazil. To the north lies the Atlantic Ocean. Maranhão is neighbored by the states of Piauí, Tocantins and Pará. The people of Maranhão have a distinctive accent...

    , it ships around 70 million metric tons mostly of iron ore, but also of manganese
    Manganese
    Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...

     and copper
    Copper
    Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

     for the company.

  • Port of Sepetiba - Vale operates two maritime terminals in the Port of Sepetiba area located in the state of Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro
    Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

    , together they ship around 60 million metric tons of iron ore.


Vale also operates port terminals in the state of Sergipe
Sergipe
Sergipe , is the smallest state of the Brazilian Federation, located on the northeastern Atlantic coast of the country. It borders on two other states, Bahia to the south and west and Alagoas to the north, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean...

 and two others in the state of Espirito Santo
Espírito Santo
Espírito Santo is one of the states of southeastern Brazil, often referred to by the abbreviation "ES". Its capital is Vitória and the largest city is Vila Velha. The name of the state means literally "holy spirit" after the Holy Ghost of Christianity...

.

Ships

Vale has also entered the shipping business by ordering seven very large ore carriers
Bulk carrier
A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...

 (VLOC) from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ' is the second largest shipbuilder in the world and one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea.On 21 February 2011, the A. P...

 in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

 to transport iron ore between South America and Asia. These 362 metres (1,187.7 ft), 400,000 DWT ships are the longest and largest dry bulk carriers in the world. The first ship, Vale Brasil
MS Vale Brasil
MS Vale Brasil, owned by the Brazilian mining company Vale, is the world's largest bulk carrier. Designed to carry iron ore from Brazil to Asia along the Cape route around South Africa, she is the first of seven 400,000-ton very large ore carriers ordered by Vale from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine...

, was delivered in March 2011.

Energy

Vale's energy business is focused at power production to fulfill the needs of its mining operations, as well as supplying the general Brazilian power grid. In 2005 it consumed 16.9 TWh of electrical power, accounting for 4.4% of Brazil's total consumption in that year.

Vale has participation in 8 hydroelectric plants
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

, with 7 of these located in the state of Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

. Vale's investment in hydroelectric power plants totals $880 million. The company also plans to build a 600 MW thermoeletric power plant in the state of Pará
Pará
Pará is a state in the north of Brazil. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest it also borders Guyana and Suriname, and to the northeast it borders the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is Belém.Pará is the most populous state...

.
Vale's Hydroeletric power plants
Name Location Production Capacity Vale's Ownership Vale's Investment Start of Operations
Aimorés Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

330 MW 51% $141 million July 2005
Candonga Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

140 MW 50% $46 million September 2004
Capim Branco I Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

240 MW 48.42% $90 million February 2006
Capim Branco II Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

210 MW 48.42% $90 million May 2007
Estreito Tocantins
Tocantins
Tocantins may refer to:* Tocantins, a state in Brazil* Tocantins River, a river in Brazil* Survivor: Tocantins, a reality show set in Tocantins, Brazil* Tocantins Esporte Clube, a Brazilian football club...

1,087 MW 30% $355 million August 2009
Funil Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

180 MW 51% $49 million December 2002
Igarapava Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

210 MW 38.15% $88.1 million January 1999
Porto Estrela Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...

112 MW 33.33%% $20 million September 2001


Vale also operates hydroeletric plants in Canada and two others in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. The company is building a third hydroeletric plant on the Larona River, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

.

External links

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