Vale seeks buyer for stake in its Ubu steel project in Brazil

Brazilian mining giant Vale is in talks to sell a stake in the Brazil-based Cia. Siderurgica de Ubu steel project valued at $6 billion, according to a report in Brazilian newspaper Brasil Economico on November 16. The project at Anchieta on the Espirito Santo coast in southeastern Brazil aims to produce steel slabs for further processing abroad.
 
Vale may find a buyer for part of its stake by the first quarter of 2012, Vale's steel director Aristides Corbellini said. Vale wants to reduce its stake in the company to 20 percent and find a strategic partner to lead the project. Mr. Corbellini had previously stated in April this year that Vale, which at the time controlled 100 percent of the Ubu project, did not plan to hold on to any more than 25 percent of any of its steel projects.