Vale's mines in Brazil closed due to virus
Bloomberg News
Jun 7, 2020 –
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A Brazilian labor court judge ordered iron-ore producer Vale SA to close the Conceicao, Caue and Periquito pits in its Itabira complex in Minas Gerais state after a COVID-19 outbreak among workers.
The development puts more than 10 per cent of the global giant's iron ore output offline and will likely send jitters through the global iron ore market.
The COVID-19 epidemic is threatening to disrupt supply in the world's second-largest exporter of iron ore as China's steel demand recovers, driving
prices above $US100 a metric ton for the first time since August.
Vale had earlier fended off an attempt to close the complex, according to a statement on the prosecutors' website dated Friday.
The order was granted after 188 workers tested positive for. Rio de Janeiro-based Vale said in an emailed response that "it has been notified and is already working on the necessary actions to better comply with the decision."
The virus is sweeping across Latin America, a region with a highly urbanised population of 600 million. In April, Vale cut its shipment guidance due the virus's impact on operations.
Brazil meat processor JBS SA was ordered by a labor court to halt operations for two weeks at its Ana Reich pork plant in Rio Grande do Sul state because of coronavirus, according to a Friday filing. The judge also ordered JBS to remove workers at high-risk for COVID-19.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday defended his government's move to partially withhold official data on the scale of the world's second-largest coronavirus outbreak.
Late on Friday, Brazil's Health Ministry took down a website showing the evolution of the epidemic over time and by state and municipality.
The ministry also stopped reporting a total tally of confirmed cases, which have shot past 645,000 – more than anywhere outside the United States – and its overall death toll, which just passed Italy with more than 35,000.
"The cumulative data ... does not reflect the moment the country is in," Bolsonaro said on Twitter, citing a note from the ministry. "Other actions are underway to improve the reporting of cases and confirmation of diagnoses."
Neither Bolsonaro nor the ministry gave a reason for taking down the covid.saude.gov.br website, which had been a key public resource for tracking the pandemic. The page still appeared with an "under maintenance" notice at noon on Saturday.
The government also drew fire for pushing back the release of its daily tally of diagnoses and deaths.
"Transparency of information is a powerful instrument for combating the epidemic," wrote Paulo Jeronimo de Sousa, head of the Brazilian Press Association, in a note accusing the government of "trying to silence the press at this late hour."
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