Vale Announces Fourth Quarter Results

By Vale, PRNE
Wednesday, February 10, 2010

RIO DE JANEIRO, February 11 - Vale (NYSE: VALE) would like to announce the highlights of its Webcast
Conference, led today in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which included the
participation of Fabio Barbosa, CFO of Vale; Jose Carlos Martins, Executive
Director for Ferrous Minerals; and Eduardo Bartolomeo, Executive Director of
Logistics, Project Management and Sustainability.

Main highlights of Vale's performance in 4Q09:
(www.vale.com/vale/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?sid=121)

The main highlights of Vale's performance in 2009 were:

— Operating income of U.S. $ 6.5 billion in 4Q09, totaling U.S. $ 23.9
billion
in 2009

— Operating profit, measured by adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest
and taxes) of U.S. $ 1.1 billion in 4Q09 and U.S. $ 6.1 billion in 2009.

— Operating margin, as measured by adjusted EBIT margin, in 2009 of
26.0%. In 4Q09, adjusted EBIT margin of 17.4%.

— Cash generation, measured by adjusted EBITDA (earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of U.S. $ 9.2 billion in
2009. EBITDA reached U.S. $ 2.1 billion in 4Q09.

— Investments in organic growth and maintenance of existing operations
reached U.S. $ 9.0 billion in 2009.

— Investments of U.S. $ 796 million in corporate social responsibility
in 2009, of which U.S. $ 580 million was spent on protecting and conserving
the environment and U.S. $ 216 million on social projects.

— Dividend of U.S. $ 2.75 billion in 2009.

— Strong financial position, supported by significant cash of
U.S. $ 11.0 billion, availability of credit lines for medium and long-term
debt and low risk.

The main issues discussed in the conference call include:

Innovation for Growth

Vale undertook a series of corporate restructurings to offer more
efficient support to business areas of the company in response to an
environment of recession. To further reduce company costs, Vale also
accelerated the globalization of a shared service center. The cost of shared
services was U.S. $70 million, following the same full value of 3Q09, which
had been at U.S. $68 million.

Although aimed at reducing costs, Vale increased its competitive
advantage through various activities undertaken during the period, among them
low cost of production of world-class assets, disciplined allocation of
resources and leveraging of a highly qualified and motivated labor force and
entrepreneurial spirit among employees. All employees were invited to assist
the company with creative and innovative ideas that would help to reduce the
expenses of the company and increase the efficiency of internal processes.

"Despite what the numbers show, we implemented many measures to face the
crisis. We are fostering innovation, we asked our employees for suggestions
on how to improve the business, and we received 7,000 suggestions, which we
will evaluate, and we are looking to incorporate these suggestions (…) We
are working hard to increase logistics capabilities, with the aim of a more
efficient long-term structure," stated Barbosa.

Global Demand Gaining Momentum

Vale expects the growth in global industrial production will continue
over the coming quarters, reflecting the scenario of strong demand and
inventory dynamics, thereby continuing to pressure demand for minerals and
metals. "There has been record demand in China for iron ore; last year we
sold a record amount of 140 million tons. Through pragmatic and objective
marketing policies, we were able to reach a record," said Barbosa.

"Global demand is gaining momentum; we are seeing a clear recovery path
(mainly with emerging markets) and we are clearly seeing recovery on the
ground. This is a positive indication and we are enhancing our prospective of
future sales," said Barbosa.

Past experience shows that supply adjustment is not a short-term
phenomenon, and usually extends for almost a year. Sales are growing,
although at a slower rate, and supplies continue to fall, which requires
increased production to normalize the relationship between inventories and
sales. "In the global iron ore market we are seeing an excess of demand and
severe supply constraints. The market is demanding more than we can ship,"
Barbosa explained.

"Europe is recovering faster than expected, Japan is at pre-crisis
levels, and China has more demand than it did before the crisis," Executive
Director for Ferrous Minerals, Jose Carlos Martins, added.

Commenting on the market situation, Martins said that Vale is much better
prepared to work in any scenario and noted that clients will have to accept a
different price reality. "If our customers want to keep the benchmark, they
will have to accept something: first, closer to the level of spot today and
secondly, some changes that keep some kind of flexibility on the pricing
system. Today the spot is a bigger market than the benchmark. We may stick to
the benchmark system but we need to have some kind of flexibility. We need to
define a system that could have some flexibility to cope with these
variations," he said, referring to the difference between the spot and
benchmark prices.

New Projects and Delivery Expected in 2010

This year Vale will start several important projects. One is the Bayovar
Project, a greenfield project and one of the largest phosphate initiatives in
Peru. Bayovar is one of world's most cost efficient phosphate rock mines and
involves an open-pit mine in the district of Sechura, Province of Piura, with
nominal production capacity of 3.9 Mtpy of concentrate phosphoric and a
maritime terminal. Completion is planned for the second half of 2010. In the
first half of this year, the Tres Valles Project, in the Coquimbo region of
Chile, will also be delivered. It will have an estimated nominal production
capacity of 18,000 metric tpy of copper cathode.

Most recently, Vale acquired potash assets in the provinces of Mendonza
and Neuquen (Projeto Potassio Rio Colorado) in Argentina. The project
includes the development of a mine with initial rated capacity of 2.4 million
metric tons of potassium (KCl), with potential expansion to 4.35 million
metric tons, construction of a 350 km railway branch line, port installation
and power plant. This project is subject to Board approval and start-up is
estimated for the second half of 2013.

Fertilizers: A New Global Leadership Goal for Vale

Vale has 18 years of successful experience in potash mining and is one of
the leading providers of logistics for the fertilizer industry in Brazil. The
company is negotiating the acquisition of fertilizer assets in Brazil, aiming
to create a solid asset base to achieve a global leadership position in the
coming years.

The company already has an attractive pipeline of projects in South
America
, North America and Africa for potash and phosphate rock, which gives
Vale a strong position in terms of cost, quality and geographic positioning.
Last month, Vale acquired the fertilizer assets of Bunge Brazil and
Fosfertil, a very strategic move for the company. It aims to be one of the
largest producers of fertilizer nutrients in the world by 2017.

"This is a major investment considering what we have in our pipeline and
what we are paying for the assets. But the rationale for allocating money to
this business is virtually the same that we had to invest in other mineral
segments, as the drivers are very similar," Barbosa said.

For more information, please access Vale's Press Office
(www.vale.com/saladeimprensa/en/home/imprensa.asp).

To watch the webcast of this press conference and previous events, please
go to www.vale.com.

About Vale

Vale is the world's second largest diversified mining company in market
capitalization. Present in more than 30 countries, Vale is the world's
largest producer of iron ore and pellets, key raw materials for the steel
industry, and one of the largest producers of nickel, which is used to
produce stainless steel, batteries, special alloys, chemicals and other
products. The company also produces copper, manganese, ferroalloys, bauxite,
alumina, aluminum and coal, among other raw materials important to the global
industrial sector and present in people's daily lives. For more information,
please access www.vale.com/pressoffice.

Rodrigo Ferrari, Hill & Knowlton, +55-11-5505-9487, rodrigo.ferrari at hillandknowlton.com, for Vale

YOUR VIEW POINT
NAME : (REQUIRED)
MAIL : (REQUIRED)
will not be displayed
WEBSITE : (OPTIONAL)
YOUR
COMMENT :