Vale board OK’s sale of fertilizer unit — report

The board of directors at Brazilian mining giant Vale (NYSE:VALE), the world’s largest iron ore producer, have approved the sale of the firm’s fertilizer business, amid global oversupply of potash that has caused prices to tumble in the past year, leading to layoffs and mine closures across the sector.

According to local newspaper Valor Economico (in Portuguese) most of the division’s assets will be acquired by US-based Mosaic Co. (NYSE:MOS), the world’s largest producer of phosphate fertilizer.

Vale had long vowed to hold on to world-class operations in these and other key areas.

But in February, the Rio de Janeiro-based firm announced it was putting its core assets on the block in a bid to reduce its net debt to $15 billion within 18 months, from $25.23 billion at the end of 2015.

The company will also go ahead with the sale of its Carborough Downs coal mine, the company's last operating mine in Australia, Valor said.

More to come …

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