Vale pockets $1.1bn from Norway sale

Murilo Ferreira, CEO of Vale.

Vale (NYSE: VALE), the world’s biggest iron ore firm, is continuing with its strategy of divesting its non-care assets.

The Brazilian miner will sell $1.1 billion worth of its stake in Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro, bringing its holding to less than 10%.

The Economic Times reports Vale took the stake in 2011 as partial payment for Norsk Hydro’s $4.9 billion purchase of alumina and bauxite assets.

Including the Norwegian company off-load, Vale’s asset sales since 2012 now total more than $4 billion.

Vale SA last week reported net income of $3.5 billion – a 114% jump on the same quarter last year.

In efforts to minimize costs and focus on core operations, the company cut investment spending by more than one billion to $11 billion.