SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian miner Vale said on Friday that it has so far not seen a material impact from the ongoing global trade war on its operations and sales, but vowed to keep monitoring it closely amid uncertain market conditions.
Vale is one of the world’s largest iron ore producers and has a top client in China, which has been locked in a trade dispute with the United States following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Speaking on a call with analysts after the company reported a 17% first-quarter net profit drop on lower iron ore prices, Vale executives said it was too soon to talk about the trade war’s impact on prices of the key steelmaking ingredient.
Chief Executive Gustavo Pimenta, nonetheless, acknowledged that a potential global economic slowdown would likely have an impact on commodity markets.
Vale also said that given the uncertain market conditions, it was not the right time to discuss potential extraordinary dividend payments – a shareholder remuneration practice it has adopted in the recent past.
Sao Paulo-traded shares of the mining giant slipped about 2% on Friday, among the biggest fallers on Brazil’s benchmark stock index Bovespa, which was roughly flat.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Roberto Samora; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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