Mubadala to sale Brazil’s Porto Sudeste, Mina Gerais iron-ore mines

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Mubadala Capital said on Monday it has an ongoing internal process to ready the sale of Brazil’s Porto Sudeste, an iron-ore port it owns with commodities trader Trafigura.

The Rio de Janeiro-based port could also be sold alongside the firms’ iron-ore mining project Mineracao Morro do Ipe in the state of Minas Gerais, said Leonardo Yamamoto, executive director of Mubadala Capital Brazil.

“We will offer the market the option of selling the mine as well because, for investors, it makes a lot of sense to have an integrated player,” Yamamoto said on the sidelines of an event in Sao Paulo.

Yamamoto did not give a date for putting the assets up for sale but said it would happen in the “near future”.

Formed in 2016, the project includes two mines and their processing units. Ipe, produces about 3.5 million metric tons of iron ore a year while Tico-Tico was licensed less than a year ago. The owners are investing $230m (BRL1.3bn) to expand total production to about 9 million tons a year.

Porto Sudeste says it can handle up to 50 million tonnes of iron ore per year. In 2023, it shipped about 26.1 million tons, compared with 17.4 million tons a year earlier. The port also handled nine oil transshipments last year, up from five in 2022.

The Abu Dhabi state investor and the trading company completed their acquisition of Porto Sudeste in early 2014.

Yamamoto said Porto Sudeste is now a “mature” asset, adding: “our role in this specific asset, in this specific story, is no longer very relevant”.

Read: Mubadala, Trafigura hire banks to sell Brazil port