Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Vale compra controle da Biopalma

Brazil's Vale pays $173 mln for palm oil producer

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RIO DE JANEIRO | Tue Feb 1, 2011 8:42pm EST

RIO DE JANEIRO Feb 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian mining giant Vale (VALE5.SA) (VALE.N) said on Tuesday it had paid $173.5 million to take control of a palm oil producer with the aim of boosting the use of biodiesel in its operations.

Vale would take a 70 percent share in the company, Biopalma, with which it has had an alliance since in 2009, the firm said in a release on its website.

Based in the northern Amazon forest state of Para, Biopalma has six production centers with a total area planted of 18,500 hectares. That area was expected to expand to 60,000 hectares by 2013, while total palm oil production was seen peaking at 500,000 tonnes per year in 2019, Vale said.

(Reporting by Stuart Grudgings; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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