Brazilian major diversified mining group Vale has had its credit rating raised from BBB+ to A- by ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P). This upgrade is the latest in a gradual process that started when the miner first gained investment grade in July 2005."We are happy to have the robustness of our performance and commitment to financial prudence being recognised," said Vale CEO Murilo Ferreira. "The rating upgrade is very important in light of the current environment of higher risk perception of macroeconomic risks and financial markets volatility."The S&P announcement should reduce the cost of capital for the miner. In a press release, Vale stated that the "minimisation of the cost of capital is a permanent focus of our company". It pointed out that this is especially important for a mining group because of the capital-intensive nature of the industry, "which requires investment of a significant amount of resources to finance the maintenance of the existing operations, research and development and project execution".
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