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Vale SA is not concerned about an
economic slowdown in China, the mining company's top iron ore market, because
Chinese steel output is setting records, Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreia
told Reuters on Wednesday.
China's economic indicators remain strong, Ferreira said after data on Wednesday
showed China's economy grew at its slowest pace in 18 months at the start of
2014.
"We are celebrating the production of 70 million tons of steel [in China last
month], an all-time record," he said after an event in Brazil's capital
Brasilia. "I'm still very confident."
China, the world's top steelmaker, produced 70.25 million tonnes of steel in
March, 2.2 percent more than in the same month a year ago, the country's
National Bureau of Statistics reported on Wednesday.
Ferreira said he expects China to produce between 820 million and 850 million
tonnes of steel in 2014, as much as 9 percent more than the 779 million tonnes
produced in 2013.
Vale preferred shares, the company's most-traded class of stock, rose 0.3
percent to 27.94 reais in afternoon trading in Sao Paulo. On Tuesday it fell 4.6
percent on concern China's growth is slowing.
Ferreira also said that Vale has not received any formal communication from
officials in Guinea since a government committee recommended on April 9 that
Vale and its partner BSG Resources (BSGR) be stripped of two iron ore
concessions in the West African nation.
In its report, the committee recommended Guinea withdraw the mining permit held
by VBG, a joint venture between BSGR and Vale, in the giant Simandou and nearby
Zogota iron ore deposits on concern that the rights were originally acquired by
BSGR in a corrupt manner.
The report did not allege any corrupt activity on Vale's part. Vale has said it
is cooperating with investigators in the United States and Guinea who are
looking into the BSGR corruption allegations.
Source: Reuters
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Vale Secures $2.7 Billion for Carajas Iron Ore Project Expansion in Brazil
(2014-04-16)
Vale Delivers Nearly 400,000 T Iron Ore to New Malaysian Terminal
(2014-03-25)
Vale Develops Green Iron Ore To Reduce China Emissions
(2014-03-03) |
