Vale S.A. (Vale) informs that it is declaring force majeure (FM) on a number of its iron ore sales contracts as a result of the weather conditions in the Southeast of Brazil.

Heavy rainfalls since December in the Southeast of Brazil, especially in the state of Espírito Santo where floods and landslides occurred, affected the iron ore transportation capacity through the EFVM railway and the operations at the Tubarão port. As a result, some parts the Southeastern System were partially or completely shut down, and the current estimated impact on iron ore shipments is in the range of 3 to 4 million tons in 2013, of which up to 2 million tons can be potentially recovered in the first quarter of 2014.

Vale is working to safely resume its operations in the following days and to minimize the impacts of the rains. Further information will be disclosed related to the FM until the situation has been normalized.