Vale secures full control of Baovale iron ore project

Brazilian iron ore mining giant Vale recently confirmed that it has taken full control of the Baovale iron ore project, a joint venture previously owned by the firm and its Chinese partner Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel), after it acquired a 50% stake from the other, according to market sources.

The Baovale joint venture was established by Vale and Baosteel in 2001 to run the Agua Limpa mine in Brazil's Minas Gerais state. The original agreement between the two companies included a purchase option that allowed Vale to assume full control of the joint venture by acquiring Baosteel's share, which the Brazilian miner sought to exercise last year.

The completion of this acquisition is now pending approval from Brazil's antitrust body, Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), though the payment amount hasn't been disclosed so far, Mysteel Global notes.

Nonetheless, Vale once revealed that its 50% stake in Baovale was estimated at 135 million reais (approximately $23.4 million), according to the miner's third quarter financial statements last year.

The latest acquisition, once completed, will allow Vale to further improve its iron ore production, market pundits said. The mining giant produced 328 million tonnes of iron ore in 2024, the highest annual total since 2018, with its new guidance for the current year set at 325-335 million tonnes, as Mysteel Global has reported.

Written by Irene Zhuang, zhuangailing@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com