Vale Bets on India's Steel Boom as China Slows

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) is setting its sights on India as the next big growth story in steel. CEO Gustavo Pimenta told Reuters that while China's steel production has flattened at around 1 billion metric tons a year, India's demand is just getting started and Vale wants to be ready.

India has 1.6 billion people, has surpassed China, and needs massive infrastructure investments which means a lot of steel, Pimenta said. He expects India's steelmaking capacity to double to nearly 300 million tons in the next five to seven years. Vale's premium iron ore, he added, mixes well with India's lower-grade supply, making the partnership a natural fit.

This year, India is expected to import 10 million tons of Vale's ore up from almost nothing a few years ago. China still accounts for about 60% of Vale's sales, but the momentum is clearly shifting.

Pimenta also pointed to rising demand from Vietnam, where sales could reach 8 million tons in 2025. Asia's steel story isn't slowing, he said. It's just moving south.

Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/vale-bets-indias-steel-boom-161329211.html