Brazil’s Vale may acquire Anglo American’s fertilizer company Copebras

Brazil's Vale SA, the world's second-largest miner after BHP Billiton is likely to acquire Anglo American's fertilizer company Copebras SA for as much as $800 million.

Citing sources close to the company, Brazil's bi-weekly business magazine Exame reported, that Vale is weighing buying London-based diversified miner Anglo American's fertiliser company Copebras, a Brazilian producer of phosphate fertilizers, for as much as $800 million.

Anglo American holds a 73 per cent stake in Copebrás, a leading producer of phosphate fertilisers and phosphoric acid in Brazil.

Copebrás operates a phosphate mine and processing plant at Ouvidor in the state of Goiás and a processing plant in Cubatão near the port of Santos in the state of Sao Paulo.

Copebrás is one of only three major phosphate producers in Brazil.
 
At its processing plants, Copebrás produces the intermediate fertiliser, DCP, and phosphoric acid, which is used mainly in the production of fertilisers and is sold independently to third parties.

Phosphate fertilisers are used to supplement natural soil nutrients in order to achieve high agricultural yields.