Vale SA may sell a $4 billion potash fertilizer project in Brazil's northeastern state of Sergipe if it is unable to reach a tax accord with municipal authorities, Chief Executive Officer Murilo Ferreira said on Wednesday.Shareholders "cannot be subject to fiscal uncertainties" about the project Ferreira said during a hearing before a Senate committee in Brasilia, Brazil's capital. Vale, the world's No. 3 mining company by market value, is the world's largest iron ore producer and a growing fertilizer producer.Sergipe Governor Jackson Barreto said at the same hearing that the state will find a solution to the tax problem. The impasse stems from a battle between rival Sergipe towns Capala and Japaratuba towns over the location of the mine's planned processing facility on their territory.Vale's plan is to build the Carnalita potash mine and processing facility to help feed Brazil's appetite for fertilizers. Brazil is the world's largest sugar, coffee and orange-juice producer and is expected to surpass the United States this year as the world's No. 1 soybean producer. But its extensive farmlands have low nutrient levels.
Vale SA (Vale) is a Brazil-based metals and mining company. Shares of VALE traded higher by 0.9% or $0.13/share to $14.60. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $12.39 and as high as $19.41. On average, 17960300 shares of VALE exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 8169094.
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