Rio de Janeiro-Vale S.A. of Brazil said Jan. 21 that rumors regarding a bid to acquire a fertilizer company or negotiations with the purpose of making a bid to acquire such company are totally unfounded. Vale said it continues to focus on its multiple opportunities of organic growth. “Our multi-billion [dollar] investment plan for 2011, of US$ 24 billion, is anchored in a rigorous discipline in capital allocation and reinforces the confidence in long-term global fundamentals to generate shareholder value,” Vale said in a statement. Vale did not specifically name a company that it was rumored to be seeking. However, there was much speculation last week that Vale or BHP Billiton might be interested in The Mosaic Co. now that Cargill Inc. is planning to shed its majority stake in Mosaic (GM, Jan. 24, p. 1). While BHP has been seeking to become a major potash player, it let word leak when it was trying to buy Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. that it was not that interested in phosphate, which is a considerable chunk of Mosaic’s portfolio.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain