Vale Sees China Steel Output Growth Slowing in 2012, Estado Says

Mar. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Vale SA forecasts steel output in China will grow 5 percent this year after expanding more than 10 percent a year previously, O Estado de Sao Paulo said, citing Jose Carlos Martins, the company's executive director for ferrous and strategy.

Vale won't lose money as a result of China's slowdown because demand from the Asian nation remains strong, Martins told Estado. Iron ore prices are recovering and the company's activity in the first quarter was of a similar volume to that in the fourth quarter, Martins told the newspaper.