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Federal Government Plans To Buy Codemig, Niobium Company Controlled By The State Of Minas Gerais. Bolsonaro Worries That Other Countries May Have Strategic Niobium Reserves.
The President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro stated on Monday (6) that the Federal Government intends to purchase shares of Codemig, a company that is being sold by the Governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo). Bolsonaro claims that there is interest from the Union to prevent Brazilian niobium from falling into the hands of other countries. Earlier this year, in February, the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais (ALMG) rejected the urgent request to veto the sale of Codemig.
Minas Gerais Plans To Privatize Codemig
According to Bolsonaro, when Zema spoke about selling shares of Codemig, the Federal Government began negotiations to take over those shares. It is important to note that last year, Minas Gerais announced its intention to privatize Codemig. However, until now, state legislators have not yet assessed the process.
The company receives royalties from the production of niobium, which is used in superconductors, steel, among others. Bolsonaro, in an interview with AgroMais, a division of the Bandeirantes group focused on agribusiness topics, commented on the meeting with Elon Musk, South African billionaire and owner of Tesla, the electric vehicle company.
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The Brazilian president reiterated that niobium-graphene batteries would be the future of the vehicle industry and also emphasized the fact that a large part of the niobium is on national territory. According to Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil holds 98% of the global niobium, a raw material produced by Codemig. The Catalão was sold to another country during the last government. In Araxá, niobium is part of the Minas Gerais government, with which the Federal Government is conducting negotiations.
Federal Government Advocates Stopping Commodities Exports
The strategy, already revealed to members of the Minas government, is that BNDES could hold the shares. Former state government representatives believe that niobium is not as strategically important as Bolsonaro claims and therefore see it as a good business to dispose of the shares.
In the interview, the president also argued that Brazil should stop exporting raw materials and start working on the industrialization of the material within the country, as there is a risk that other countries are making strategic reserves of the product.
Brazil also has large volumes of niobium in the Seis Lagos region, in Amazonas. It had been discussed with the American government, still under Donald Trump’s administration, how this could be explored to add greater value.
Bolsonaro highlighted that it is unfair to export niobium from Codemig and other miners in natura. In Araxá, several companies from other countries import Brazilian niobium. It is also apparent that there are countries that have no technology at all. What the president suggests is that they may be making reserves for the future.
Know Codemig
Codemig was founded in December 2003, from the change in the corporate name of the Mining Company of Minas Gerais (Comig) and the incorporation of the Company of Industrial Districts of Minas Gerais (CDI/MG) and the Mining Tourism Company, as well as the assets of the defunct Urban Development Company of Minas Gerais.
Until 2018, the company was responsible for several projects and actions to promote the economic development of the State, which were then taken over by its majority shareholder, the Development Company of Minas Gerais.
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