Usiminas to Cancel Iron Ore Shipment Contract
Brazilian steelmaker Usiminas intends to cancel its iron ore shipment contract with the Sudeste Port, a private terminal near Rio de Janeiro, the port said on Friday. The statement did not say how much Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA, as the company is formally known, had agreed to export through the terminal nor did it give a reason for the desire to cancel the contract. Usiminas declined to comment on the news. (Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Diane Craft)
Brazil Iron Ore Terminal will Start This Year
Trading firm Trafigura and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala said on Thursday their Brazilian port for exporting iron ore will start this year, in response to a steelmaker with a contract to use the port that said the opening could be pushed back to 2015. Porto Sudeste "is on track to start operation in the beginning of the last quarter of 2014," Eugenio Mamede, chief operating officer for the port, said in a written response to Reuters. Trafigura owns a controlling stake in the port with Abu Dhabi government investment fund Mubadala Development Co. The export terminal located in Rio de Janeiro state will be able to handle 50 million tonnes of iron ore per year, and could expand to 100 million tonnes.