Brazil miner CVRD, shareholders to meet on strategic plan

Brazilian mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce,or CVRD, and key controlling shareholders will meet in coming days to detail the company's strategic plan, CVRD President Roger Agnelli said Friday.

"In the next few days, we are going to meet with shareholders to map out a new strategic plan and set new goals," Agnelli said. Agnelli made the comments during a Webcast to discuss the company's record first-quarter earnings.

Agnelli said that the company typically maps out its strategy for the next five years and conducts 10-year studies to set objectives.

"There won't be any major changes," Agnelli said. "We're going to see about the possibility of increasing investments in the short- and medium-term, given that demand is expected to be very strong for the next few years."

According to Agnelli, CVRD last held such a meeting with shareholders in March 2001. At that time, CVRD's goal was to reach a market value of $25 billion and be among the world's top-three miners in terms of market value.

Now, CVRD has a market value of just over $100 billion and is the world's second-largest miner in terms of market value, trailing only Australian giant BHP Billiton

"We easily topped all of our previous goals, and now it's time to chart a course for the future and see where we can go," Agnelli said.

Late Thursday, CVRD reported the company's best-ever quarterly earnings performance. CVRD's net profit more than doubled to 5.1 billion Brazilian reals ($2.5 billion), up from BRL2.2 billion in the same quarter a year ago on record nickel prices and the full consolidation of its purchase of Canadian nickel miner Inco.

CVRD's locally traded shares closed 2.2% higher at BRL74.60 on the Brazilian Stock Exchange, or Bovespa. The shares outperformed the broader market as measured by the benchmark Ibovespa index, which closed at a record high of 50,598 points.