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Gold/Mining/Energy : Mining News of Note -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LoneClone who wrote (66573)	8/30/2010 6:48:54 PM
From: LoneClone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 193918

Brazil's Vale mulls fertilizer acquisitions-report reuters.com Sat Aug 28, 2010 12:34pm EDT * Vale to consider opportunities that make sense- director * Bidding for Potash would have been "big step" * Could seek partnerships with other fertilizer companies BRASILIA, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Brazilian mining giant Vale VALA5.SA (VALE.N), which has sought to raise its presence in the fertilizer sector in recent months, could be seeking further acquisitions, a local newspaper said on Saturday. The company is expected to boost its budget and could seek acquisitions as part of its ambitious plans for the fertilizer sector, the report in O Estado de S. Paulo said. "There are companies, in this consolidation process, that start getting small if they don't join others," said Mario Barbosa, Vale's executive director for fertilizers, according to the newspaper. "We will always look at opportunities that come up and make sense." The comments come only days after Vale denied market talk it was planning a bid for Canada's Potash Corp (POT.TO) (POT.N), as Potash seeks to fend off a $39 billion takeover offer from Australia's BHP Billiton (BLT.L) (BHP.AX) Potash is the world's largest fertilizer supplier and Vale is one of two companies considered big enough to mount a rival bid on its own. Analysts have consistently expressed doubt Vale would jump into the bidding for Potash, citing heavy political pressure to invest in Brazil and its existing $10 billion portfolio of fertilizer investments. Barbosa said it would have been "a very big step" for Vale to have gotten involved with the Potash bid at the moment. Another way to grow in the sector was through partnerships with other fertilizer companies, he added. Vale, the world's largest producer of iron ore, has expanded its fertilizer business in recent months. The formerly state-run company was privatized in 1997. In January, it agreed to pay $3.8 billion to buy the fertilizer assets in Brazil of U.S.-based Bunge Ltd (BG.N). It plans to boost production at its Bayovar phosphate mine in Peru by nearly 50 percent over the next 18 months. (Reporting by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Eric Walsh)