Brazil Vale CEO Ferreira: No Date Set For Fertilizer Unit IPO

No date has been set for an initial public offering of shares in Vale Fertilizantes SA, the fertilizer unit of Vale SA (VALE, VALE5.BR), the Brazilian mining company's new chief executive said Friday.

Murilo Ferreira said at a news conference that the company will receive a report regarding the possible IPO "two months from now."

Earlier this year, Vale confirmed its intention to sell 49% of Vale Fertilizantes before the end of 2011.

Vale expanded its position in fertilizers last year after buying Brazilian producer Fosfertil SA and Bunge Ltd.'s (BG) fertilizer assets in Brazil for a total of $4.7 billion. These operations were grouped together under Vale Fertilizantes, which more recently absorbed Vale Fosfatados SA, a sister company in the phosphates area.

Last October, Vale said it planned to invest $2.5 billion in 2011 in developing fertilizer projects in North and South America and Africa to help meet farmers' crop-nutrient requirements amid rising global food demand.

The company aims to become a leading player in global fertilizer markets by 2015, when its annual output is targeted at 3.4 million metric tons of potash, up from an estimated 800,000 tons in 2011, and 12.7 million metric tons of phosphate rock, up from 6.4 million forecast for 2011.

-By Diana Kinch and Tom Murphy, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-11-3544-7090; brazil@dowjones.com

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