Speaking during the FII Priority Summit, Eduardo Bartolomeo, CEO of the Brazilian miner Vale, informed that the company’s current iron ore exports to the Middle East, 27 million mt per year, could be increased to 70 million mt per year, without mentioning deadlines.
The Brazilian miner Vale said in a statement that it has entered into an agreement with BHP in relation to group action proceedings in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands, relating to the Samarco Fundão Dam collapse in Brazil in 2015.
Vale is a defendant to a contribution claim brought by BHP before the English Court, in connection with a group action claim brought against BHP by over 600,000 claimants seeking damages for alleged losses arising from the dam collapse.
Furthermore, Vale became a defendant in proceedings brought in the Netherlands on behalf of over 78,000 claimants who declare to have been affected by the collapse.
Except for a few clauses, the Vale/BHP agreement is confidential.
One of the open clauses is that the parts have made no admission of liability and that the claim brought by BHP against Vale in the UK will be withdrawn.
According to Vale “the effect of the agreement is that should BHP ultimately be found to have any liability to the claimants in the UK Claims, or should Vale ultimately be found to have any liability to the claimants in the Netherlands, such liability would be shared equally between BHP and Vale”.
All other terms of the agreement remain strictly confidential.
According to Gustavo Pimenta, Vale’s CFO, the company reaffirms its commitment to repair the damages caused by the collapse, in accordance with agreements already entered with Brazilian public authorities.
