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Iron ore rush creates mining boomtown in Brazil

Time:Tue, 17 Aug 2021 08:52:01 +0800

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Finding a place to stay is not so easy these days in the Brazilian mining town of Itabirito.

 

Hotel rooms are scarce and rents have climbed, say locals, as outsiders descend on the hilly settlement in search of their fortunes — or maybe just a steady wage — from the iron ore deposits found in this tropical region of green valleys and streams.

 

Prices for the steelmaking ingredient have rallied over the past year, turning the modest town of about 60,000 people into a hotspot of the global commodities boom.

 

It’s a special moment,” said mayor Orlando Caldeira. “Commerce is in full swing, even with the pandemic and all its difficulties”.

 

As growth returns around the world with the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, buoyant demand for raw materials and basic foodstuffs is proving a godsend for Brazil’s miners and many of its farmers.

 

Located in the so-called ‘Iron Quadrangle’ of Minas Gerais state, whose history is steeped in the pursuit of gold and diamonds, Itabirito has witnessed an explosion of employment as well as a windfall for the public coffers. 

 

The municipality, an hour’s drive from state capital Belo Horizonte, received R$59m ($11.5m) in income from mining royalties during the first quarter of 2021, an eightfold increase on the same period last year. 

 

Its new found prosperity, however, contrasts with the hardship faced by many Brazilians as a result of Covid-19. The disease has killed more than 500,000 people in the South American nation and pushed the jobless rate to almost 15 per cent.

 

We haven’t had mass unemployment,” said Caldeira, estimating that 80 per cent of the 3,600 roles created last year were linked to mining. “On the contrary, there’s a surplus of vacancies”. 

 

Agile Minerals, a manufacturer of mining equipment and components, opened a new facility in a former car parts factory in Itabirito last year and has tripled its workforce to 300.

 

After being made redundant as a result of the pandemic, 32-year-old Mariani Vaz returned to her hometown for a position with the company after more than a decade away. 

 

I want to build a life here, because we have opportunities,” she said. “The town is small and we know everyone, but I’m seeing a lot of new faces. Life here is a little more expensive than other towns in the region, but it’s worth it.”

 

On an evening at the end of the week, walking home in overalls is Edir, in his 50s. Unemployed after the closure of an alloys plant in 2016, he found work a year ago at a local iron ore producer.

 

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In his view, rightwing president Jair Bolsonaro can take some credit for the industry’s success. “Things are improving — you can see the movement. The market is hot,” he added.

 

A weak exchange rate, while hitting consumers with inflation, has been a blessing for Brazilian miners. It lowers their operating costs compared with overseas rivals and boosts earnings in the local currency, as iron ore is quoted in dollars. 

 

Shares in Brazil’s Vale, one of the world’s largest iron ore suppliers, are up by almost a fifth since the start of 2021 and last month it posted a 600 per cent year-on-year jump in quarterly net income to $7.6bn.

 

The country’s exports of the mineral, largely bound for China, are forecast to surge in value by three-quarters to $45.2bn this year and displace soyabeans as the main source of foreign exchange, according to a trade association.

 

The effect of this bonanza is already rippling out across Itabirito. In the town centre, an unfinished nine-storey apartment block stands incongruously. One estate agent said there were 10 interested parties for every empty plot he was selling in a gated community.

 

Past a valley where luxury homes with spacious gardens are under construction, an artisanal dairy churns out Mineiro delicacies — a variety of cheeses and doce de leite, or caramelised milk. 

 

All these people coming to work here has given a boost to trade, especially during the pandemic,” said Cristian Coelho Diniz, whose family owns the business. 

 

But her confidence is not shared by all residents. Several shopkeepers said trade was yet to fully recover, despite the fall in Covid cases.

 

Nor does the mining industry attract universal admiration, with memories of lethal accidents elsewhere in Minas Gerais never far away. In 2015, a mining waste dam ruptured in the township of Mariana, an ecological catastrophe in which 19 people died.

 

The collapse of a Vale dam in Brumadinho just over three years later unleashed a wave of industrial sludge that killed 270 people.

 

The incident sparked panic and led to the evacuation of families living by dams close to Itabirito. Last month, Vale completed construction of a giant wall to protect nearby communities in the event of a breach. 

 

[We have] been investing in new technologies to increase ore processing and reduce the impact on dams,” said Karina Rapucci, a manager at the company.

 

While Vale reckons there is another 70 years’ worth of iron ore yet to be dug in the area, local politicians are already planning for the future — including the inevitable market downturns.

 

After touching an all-time high above $230 per tonne in May, prices have dropped sharply in recent weeks to about $170 as China pledges steel production cuts to reduce its carbon emissions.

 

As well as investing in a new health clinic, crèche and road resurfacings, Caldeira, himself a former engineer at Vale, wants to lessen the local economy’s dependence on the commodity by boosting tourism and other activities.

 

Even if it does not boast all the stunning colonial architecture of neighbouring Ouro Preto, he believes the town still has more to offer than just iron ore.

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