CVRD signs US$7 billion contract with ThyssenKrupp

Brazilian metal and mining company CVRD (Companhia Vale do Rio Doce) has signed its biggest deal ever - a 15-year iron ore and pellets supply contract, worth US$7 billion, with German steel company ThyssenKrupp. Under the 15-year contract, ThyssenKrupp's new slab plant in Rio de Jeneiro, Companhia Siderurgica Atlantico (CSA), will receive 2.7 million metric tons of pellets and 5.9 million metric tons of iron ore annually from CVRD. This contract facilitates CVRD's strategy to promote the expansion of the Brazilian steel industry through minority and temporary stakes in Brazil. CSA is still under construction, with an operations expected to start in March 2009. ThyssenKrupp expects to produce 4.4 million metric tons of steel slabs per year at CSA and export them to its plant in Europe for finishing. CVRD is one of the world's biggest metal and mining companies, and Brazil's largest iron ore and pellets producer and exporter. ThyssenKrupp is the world's major international technology group with three primary business areas of steel, capital goods and services.