brazilian miner vale posts 1213bn loss in 2015
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

Brazilian miner Vale posts $12.13bn loss in 2015

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Brazilian miner Vale posts $12.13bn loss in 2015

Brazilian mining giant Vale
Rio de Janeiro - AFP

Brazilian mining giant Vale said Thursday it lost $12.13 billion last year due to lower prices for iron ore, the sharp depreciation of the real, and a deadly mining accident.

The 2015 loss followed a 2014 profit of $657 million. But last year the Brazilian currency fell 47 percent against the dollar, inflating the company's debt, while revenue declined and the price of iron ore -- Vale's main export product -- dropped 43 percent, finance director Luciano Siani said.

World prices of iron ore fell from $96.7 per ton in 2014 to $55.5 per ton in 2015, he said.

The price of other Vale mineral exports also dropped: nickel was down 30 percent, copper 20 percent, and metallurgic or coking coal 18 percent.

For the fourth quarter, Vale posted a loss of $8.57 billion, nearly four times larger than in the third quarter.

Vale is facing massive compensation and cleanup costs for the deadly accident in November, when a reservoir containing mining waste burst, releasing a torrent of toxic sludge that buried a village and killed 19 people.

Drinking water supplies were cut for hundreds of thousands of people, a village was flattened, and local fishing and tourist businesses were badly impacted.

The toxic sludge polluted hundreds of square miles as it made its way through two Brazilian states down the Doce river to the Atlantic (Shanghai: 600558.SS - news) ocean.

The government has called the accident the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history. The reservoir belongs to Samarco, which is jointly owned by Vale and Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) .

- Expensive mining disaster --

The government is negotiating huge compensation and cleanup payments with the mine owners.

"We have worked diligently with Samarco since the beginning and we will continue to be totally committed with support to the affected regions and communities, as well as its socio-environmental recovery," Vale said in a statement.

Prosecutors and the Brazilian government pin the responsibility squarely on Vale and BHP.

Vale however is seeking to limit its responsibility for the accident to Samarco and keep the reparations cost on that company's spreadsheets.

The government has called on Vale and BHP to set up a fund of 20 billion reals ($5 billion) for the recovery of the Doce river basin, one of Brazil's most important rivers.

"How are they going to set an amount if there is no criteria to evaluate the damage?" Minas Gerais state prosecutor Jose Adercio Leite Sampaio told AFP last week.

"Where do they get this figure from? For us it's a magic number," he said, noting that the real figure could be much higher.

Police charged six Samarco officials -- including an engineer and the company president at the time of the November 5 disaster -- on Tuesday with homicide, according to Brazilian media reports.

In Brazil, homicide convictions can result in prison sentences of 12 to 30 years. Police are asking for separate sentences for all 19 deaths: 17 confirmed killed and two people listed missing.

 

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

brazilian miner vale posts 1213bn loss in 2015 brazilian miner vale posts 1213bn loss in 2015

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

brazilian miner vale posts 1213bn loss in 2015 brazilian miner vale posts 1213bn loss in 2015

 



GMT 10:06 2012 Saturday ,28 July

Querrey advances at ATP LA Open

GMT 21:15 2017 Thursday ,01 June

Trump condemns deadly Kabul explosion

GMT 02:15 2017 Thursday ,24 August

Is your country on the Qatar free entry list of 80?

GMT 19:48 2016 Monday ,03 October

Controversial boxing champ Tyson Fury retires

GMT 08:20 2015 Tuesday ,08 December

PC market woes show no sign of easing

GMT 17:27 2017 Tuesday ,25 April

20 Yemeni soldiers killed, injured in explosion

GMT 11:52 2017 Saturday ,30 December

OIC condemns Mar Mina Church attack

GMT 00:03 2017 Saturday ,25 March

Arab Meeting to Examine Anti-Corruption Methods

GMT 13:12 2017 Thursday ,20 April

Deputy premier meets Arab League chief

GMT 14:13 2014 Friday ,10 January

Opel Astra GTC

GMT 18:27 2016 Tuesday ,02 August

Turkish Foreign Minister arrives in Islamabad

GMT 11:27 2016 Tuesday ,13 December

Saudi woman arrested for challenging social norms
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday