The Brazilian mining giant, which boastsits own fleet of bulkers but is also an active charterer of dry tonnage,expects to spend $14.8bn on various projects over the course of the comingyear.
According to a statement the company hasallotted $9.3bn for capital expenditures, $4.5m for the maintenance of existingoperations and $0.9bn for research and development (R&D).
“After peaking in 2011 at US$ 18.0bn,capital and R&D expenditures in 2014 will show a decline for the third yearin a row,” it told investors.
“This reflects the greater focus oncapital efficiency, which entails among other things pursuing shareholder valuemaximization through a smaller portfolio comprised of projects with a highrisk-adjusted expected rate of return.”
Of the projected 2014 total Vale wasquick to point out that 80% of the budget for project execution will bededicated to the financing of the expansion of its iron ore production anddistribution networks in addition to other related initiatives.
The company said approximately $278m hasbeen set aside for the construction of its Teluk Rubiah transshipment facilityin Malaysia, $155m for “vessels” and $3.0m for “barges” but did not elaborateon how the cash would be spent.
Vale indicated that further constructionof its maritime terminal in Northern Malaysia, which will be able to accommodatevery large ore carriers of 400,000-dwt, is scheduled to take place in the second-halfof 2014 and will push the total spent on the project to $1.371bn.
In terms of overall output the SouthAmerican mining conglomerate forecast 2014 iron ore, pellet and coal productionof 312 million metric tonnes, 43.8 million metric tonnes and 10.7 millionmetric tonnes, respectively.
At last check Vale’s transportation network included an on-the-water fleet ofbulkers comprised of 11 very large ore carriers (VLOCs) with carryingcapacities of 400,000-dwt a piece and 14 capesizes. In addition to chartered tonnage it overseestugs, barges and a floating transfer station in Subic Bay.
You can read the 2014 forecast filed with the Hong Kong Exchange and other articles about Vale's transshipment facilities by clicking on thelinks located to the right of this article
