According to reports in the Financial Times and Telegraph.co.uk websites, Vale’s chief executive Roger Agnelli said talks had been difficult since there were three parties involved in the proposal, namely Vale, Xstrata and Glencore.
“We have limits, we have reached our limits,” he said. “The problem is whether Glencore agrees to this [proposal] or not. It depends on Glencore’s position.”
It has previously been reported that talks between Vale and Glencore – which owns a 35% stake in Xstrata – ended last week after Glencore demanded an extension of its agreements to sell commodities that Xstrata produces, such as coal and nickel. However these terms were not acceptable to Vale.
Vale posted net earnings of $11.8 billion for 2007, a 63% increase on the $7.3 billion in 2006, while Xstrata is expected to report its results early this week.
