The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

Vale Is Building Malaysian Iron-Ore Complex

[The purpose of the complex is to facilitate the distribution of VALE’s ore from Brazil to customers in Asia, but the publicly-disclosed details are still sketchy.]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL3E7CK24T20110121?feedType=RSS&feedName=basicMaterialsSector&rpc=43

›Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:23pm EST

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Brazil's Vale International is expected to start building a 9 billion-14 billion ringgit ($2.95 billion-$4.57 billion) iron-ore complex in Malaysia by July or August, The Star newspaper reported.

Zambry Abdul Kadir, chief minister of Malaysia's Perak state where the project will be located, said the world's largest iron ore miner would develop the complex including a jetty at the coastal town of Lumut.

"This will be Vale's largest factory outside Brazil. All the necessary acquisitions have been made; it is just a matter of coming out to do it now," Zambry was quoted as saying.

Zambry said the state government had no equity share in the project but would participate in port and logistics operations. There would also be co-sharing with local companies on downstream activities.

Vale is building ore distribution points in Oman and Malaysia to handle Chinamax carriers, which are 400,000-tonne iron ore carriers that are expected to cut costs for Vale and lower freight rates for the entire industry, as the new vessels swell an already oversupplied market.‹