Vale boosts investments in 2010

Brazil’s mining giant Vale announced on Monday it will increase its 2010 investment by 43% to US$ 12.9 billion, responding to pressure from Brazilian government, which claimed the company was not investing enough in Brazil and even threatened chief executive Roger Agnelli to be sacked – despite the success of nearly every venture Vale entered during his administration.

After a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Agnelli announced the increase in the budget for 2010. The company will aim to diversify its portfolio and raise production capacity of copper, coal and fertilizers. “Give the current project pipeline, we expect to reach the following production flows in 2014: 450 million metric tons of iron ore, 380,000 metric tons of nickel, 650,000 metric tons of copper, 30 million metric tons of coal, 3.1 million metric tons of potash and 6.6 million metric tons of phosphate rock”, Vale said in a statement.

The miner intends to invest US$ 4.1 billion in non-ferrous metals and US$ 3.4 billion in ferrous minerals, while some US$ 892 million will be spent in coal activities and other US$ 343 million in steel projects, among other goals. Nearly US$ 8.2 billion or 63.3% of the 2010 capex budget will be invested in Brazil, while US$ 1.15 billion will be invested in Canada. Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mozambique, Oman and Peru, among other nations, will also receive investments.