By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazilian miner Vale (B3: VALE3; NYSE: VALE) has renewed a 15-year rail transportation contract with MRS Logística estimated at R$43.5 billion, with a nominal value of up to R$51.3 billion, according to a company filing.
The agreement covers the transport of iron ore, pellets and iron ore derivatives from loading terminals in Minas Gerais to port terminals in Rio de Janeiro.
The railway is an important logistics corridor for moving iron ore out of Brazil’s Southeast mining region, linking production areas in Minas Gerais to port infrastructure on the Rio de Janeiro coast.
The new contract runs from Dec. 1, 2026, to Dec. 31, 2041, and replaces an existing agreement that expires on Nov. 30, 2026.
Vale said the R$43.5 billion estimate reflects the annual transportation program and volume-flexibility mechanisms included in the contract. The higher R$51.3 billion figure is based on contractual annual basic tonnages.
Under the agreement, Vale guarantees MRS a minimum payment equivalent to 85% of the budgeted annual revenue, a take-or-pay structure based on the approved annual transportation program for each year.
Vale said it negotiated additional volume-flexibility rules to reduce the risk of take-or-pay payments in adverse production scenarios. The company also said MRS’s tariff model remains aligned with cost trends and inflation benchmarks, and does not represent an atypical increase compared with the current contract.