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Al-Khorayef Discusses Expansion Plans of Brazilian Mining Giant Vale in Saudi Arabia

Al-Khorayef touring giant Carajas mines in the Amazon forests (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Al-Khorayef touring giant Carajas mines in the Amazon forests (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Al-Khorayef Discusses Expansion Plans of Brazilian Mining Giant Vale in Saudi Arabia

Al-Khorayef touring giant Carajas mines in the Amazon forests (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Al-Khorayef touring giant Carajas mines in the Amazon forests (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Brazil are seeking to expand partnerships in the mining sector, as the two countries enjoy important economic and investment relations. The Kingdom supplies Brazil with 16 percent of its market need for phosphate fertilizers through Maaden Company.
During a visit to Brazil, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar Al-Khorayef discussed with officials of the Brazilian mining giant Vale, the company’s expansion plans in the Kingdom and opportunities for cooperation in developing the Carajas mines in the Amazon forests, which produce over 300 million tons of iron ore annually.
On Sunday, the minister visited Vale’s Carajas mines, where he was briefed on advanced technologies used in mineral extraction and processing, including remote mine management and driverless trucks.
Accompanied by Deputy Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Mudaifer and other industry leaders, Al-Khorayef discussed with Vale officials prospects for transferring knowledge and expertise, particularly in mining within rainforests and nature reserves, and forming effective partnerships with local communities.
This visit comes as part of the minister’s tour to Brazil and Chile, which aims to strengthen bilateral relations and attract investments to the Kingdom in the industrial and mining sectors.
Brazil is the second largest iron ore producing country in the world, and has a long history in the mining sector, with the number of mines exceeding 3,000.
Vale works to develop a factory and logistics center for processing and producing iron pellets in the Ras Al-Khair Industrial City in the east of the Kingdom, with an investment exceeding SAR 4 billion ($1.06 billion), and a production capacity of up to 4 million tons annually of iron pellets, which is the main material for steel production.
Al-Khorayef had recently met with the CEO of Vale Mining Company, Eduardo Bartolomeo, in Brazil, to discuss the promising investment opportunities provided by the Saudi mining sector and the expansion plans in the Kingdom.

 

 

 

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UK is 'Broke and Broken,' New Government Says

Rowers train during warm summer weather on the River Thames at Isleworth in London, Britain, July 28, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Rowers train during warm summer weather on the River Thames at Isleworth in London, Britain, July 28, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville
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UK is 'Broke and Broken,' New Government Says

Rowers train during warm summer weather on the River Thames at Isleworth in London, Britain, July 28, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Rowers train during warm summer weather on the River Thames at Isleworth in London, Britain, July 28, 2024. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Britain’s new left-leaning government said Sunday that the nation is “broke and broken,” blaming the situation on its predecessors ahead of a major speech on the state of the public finances that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes.
In a sweeping assessment three weeks after taking power, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office professed shock at the situation they inherited after 14 years of Conservative Party rule, while releasing a department-by-department analysis of the perceived failures of the previous government.
The critique comes a day before Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is expected to outline a 20-billion-pound ($26 billion) shortfall in public finances during a speech to the House of Commons.
“We will not shy away from being honest with the public about the reality of what we have inherited,’’ Pat McFadden, a senior member of the new Cabinet, said in a statement. “We are calling time on the false promises that British people have had to put up with and we will do what it takes to fix Britain,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
Starmer’s Labour Party won a landslide election victory earlier this month following a campaign in which critics accused both major parties of a “conspiracy of silence” over the scale of the financial challenges facing the next government.
Labour pledged during the campaign that it wouldn’t raise taxes on “working people,” saying its policies would deliver faster economic growth and generate the additional revenue needed by the government. The Conservatives, meanwhile, promised further tax cuts in the autumn if they were returned to office.
As proof that the previous government wasn’t honest about the challenges facing the country, Starmer’s office pointed to recent comments from former Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt confirming that he wouldn’t have been able to cut taxes this year if the Conservatives had been returned to power.
Those comments came in an interview with the BBC in which Hunt also accused Labour of exaggerating the situation to justify raising taxes now that they’ve won the election.
“The reason we’re getting all this spin about this terrible economic inheritance is because Labour wants to raise taxes,” Hunt said on July 21. “If they wanted to raise taxes, all the numbers were crystal clear before the election. ... They should have levelled with the British public.”
The government on Sunday released an overview of the spending assessment Reeves commissioned shortly after taking office. She will deliver the complete report to Parliament on Monday.
Those findings led the new government to accuse the Conservatives of making significant funding commitments for this financial year “without knowing where the money would come from.’’
It argued that the military had been “hollowed out’’ at a time of increasing global threats and the National Health Service was “broken,’’ with some 7.6 million people waiting for care.
And despite billions spent to house migrants and combat the criminal gangs ferrying migrants across the English Channel on dangerous inflatable boats, the number of people making the crossing is still rising, Starmer’s office said. Some 15,832 people have crossed the Channel on small boats already this year, 9% more than during the same period in 2023.
“The assessment will show that Britain is broke and broken — revealing the mess that populist politics has made of the economy and public services,” Downing Street said in a statement.
The quandary the government finds itself in should be no surprise, said Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank focused on Britain’s economic policies.
At the start of the election campaign, the institute said that the UK was in a “parlous fiscal position” and the new government would have to either raise taxes, cut spending or relax the rules on public borrowing.
“For a party to enter office and then declare that things are ‘worse than expected’ would be fundamentally dishonest,” the IFS said on May 25. “The next government does not need to enter office to ‘open the books.’ Those books are transparently published and available for all to inspect.”