- Supply-side market impact will be far greater than the lost production from Vale's Feijao iron ore mine in Brazil, which suffered the deadly dam burst last Friday, says Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) CEO Lourenco Goncalves.
- "Scrutiny of tailings dams in Brazil is at an all-time high," Goncalves tells S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) Platts. "This will involve everything in Brazil, not just for Vale but other iron ore miners there."
- Beyond Vale's (NYSE:VALE) operations, essentially any mine outside of Carajas in northern Brazil, may be affected, according to Goncalves, such as those operated by Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE:SID).
- CLF handles tailings at each of its iron ore mines - three in Minnesota and one in Michigan - and the CEO notes the company retested all its procedures and safety initiatives following the November 2015 Samarco accident in Brazil.
- Since the accident, the Platts global benchmark price of 62% iron ore fines has jumped 12.8% to $85.05/dry mt from $75.40/dmt on Friday.
- Separately, Vale says it is postponing its Q4 earnings report to March 27 rather than Feb. 13 as originally scheduled and its production and sales report to March 26 from Feb. 4.
- CLF soared 17.7% in today's trade, while Vale jumped 9.6% and SID gained 6.9%.
- Now read: Cleveland-Cliffs Shares Boosted By Vale Problems
Original article