Vale

Vale S.A.  is a Brazilian multinational diversified metals and mining corporation and one of the largest logistics operators in Brazil.In addition to being the second-largest mining company in the world,Vale is also the largest producer of iron ore,pellets,and second largest of nickel.Vale also produces manganese, ferroalloys, copper, bauxite, potash, kaolin, alumina and aluminium. In the electric energy sector, the company participates in consortia and currently operates nine hydroelectric plants.Currently the company is listed on the stock exchanges of São Paulo, New York, Paris,Hong Kong and Madrid. Its ownership is documented in US SEC Form 20-A, and includes 3 "golden shares" that belong to the Brazilian government, and a significant (if not majority share) held by the national pension funds.Its foreign activities are based in the Cayman Islands, a noted offshore tax haven.Founded as Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (widely known as CVRD prior to 2007) (in English, Freshwater River Valley Company) was founded in Itabira, Minas Gerais, as a public company by the Brazilian Federal Government on June 1, 1942. One year later the Vitória a Minas railroad was inaugurated.CVRD, just seven years after its foundation, was already responsible for 80% of Brazilian iron ore exports.In 1966, the company inaugurated in Espirito Santo the Port of Tubarão, which was to become the most important port for CVRD and is still used to export iron ore mined from the Iron Quadrangle in Minas Gerais.The Carajás Mine, on which Vale still has over 1.5 billion tonnes of iron ore in reserves,started to have Vale as a majority stakeholder in 1970.In 1974, Vale became the world's biggest exporter of iron ore, a title which it still holds today.Then, in 1982, Vale began to diversify itself after it started to produce aluminium in Rio de Janeiro.Throughout its history, CVRD’s activities, once restricted to the Southeast, were expanded to the Northeast, Central-West, and North of Brazil, diversifying its mineral product portfolio and consolidating logistics services.Vale in 1985 started to explore the Carajás Mine in the state of Pará just after the Carajás railroad was opened and in 1986 Ponta Madeira port terminal, which is still used to export iron ore mined at the Carajás Mines, was inaugurated in the state of Maranhão.This railway is 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge.Vale had its control transferred from the Brazilian Federal Government to the private sector (privatization) on May 6, 1997, when the Consórcio Brasil (Brazil Consortium), led by the National Steel Company - CSN acquired 41.73% of the Federal Government’s common stock for R$ 3,338 billion,or $3.14 billion at that time.The decision to privatize Vale caused much controversy and some politicians opposed the privatization.Vale remained a public traded company both in the Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (BOVESPA) and NYSE (through American Depositary Receipt - ADR).

Net Income $ 4.7 billion (2012)