Middle Eastern investment duo take controlling stake of Brazilian iron ore terminal

Mubadala, the strategic investment company of the Abu Dhabi Government and Trafigura, the world’s second-largest metal trader, concluded a deal Wednesday to acquire a 65 per cent stake in the Porto Sudeste iron ore terminal from MMX.

The deal involves the two companies  paying $400 million for the shares in Porto Sudeste, a major iron-ore port terminal located in Itaguai, Rio de Janeiro state.  They will also assume about 1.3 billion reais of Porto Sudeste’s debt. Further, MMX will retain a 35 per cent interest in the port.

Porto Sudeste is designed to handle 50 million metric tons of iron ore per year, and future expansion plans would put capacity at 100 million metric tons per year. Construction work on the port began in July 2010, with commercial operations expected to begin in Q3 2014.