Major Investment by a Brazilian Firm: VALE

Brazilian mining company Vale broke ground Friday on a US$479 million phosphate mine in Peru. Vale's Bayovar mine, due to open in 2010 in the northern province of Piura, will produce about 3.9 million metric tons of phosphate a year. Vale, the world's top producer of iron-ore, has never before mined phosphate, but demand for fertilizer - for crops from sugarcane to soy - is now skyrocketing as agribusiness booms across Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Brazil is now forced to import most of its fertilizer, despite producing 6 million tons of phosphate fertilizer a year.