The axe may have fallen on some areas of Brazil''s production, but a $300m deal that includes Caribbean port interests as well as two coal mines was concluded in December by Vale.
Probably driven by last summer's turmoil, Brazil's largest coal producer has, it seems, been looking at a long term strategy in order to control supplies to its process plants.
Argos, who is selling its coal interests to Vale, is also including its coal logistics assets in the sell-off. This means Vale will get 100% of the concessions on the Rio Cordoba - SPRC port in the Caribbean, and also a minority stake in the recently updated railroad link that will start bringing coal into the port shortly, taking over from trucks early this year.
Whether it is a good time for this investment remains to be seen, however. Other news in the region does not look overly positive, as Nippon Steel has recently asked mining companies to cancel some deliveries of both iron ore and coking coal and Vale itself has also just cut ore output and put its expansion plans on hold.
