Vale's retiring Agnelli to 'calm down'

“I am happy and calm,” said Roger Agnelli over his decade leading Latin America's largest non-state firm.

“Everything in life has its time,” he told journalists in northwest Mozambique, where he opened a new US$1.7 billion (1.2-billion-euro) coal mine.

“There is now a vision that everyone shares.”

Agnelli's departure was announced last month after weeks of rumors that the Brazilian government, a major shareholder, was demanding change at the top after Vale laid off 1,300 workers in Brazil and abroad in 2008.

The layoffs came at the height of the global economic crisis, after then-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had urged Brazilian firms to maintain staffing levels.

Agnelli, who will be replaced by former company executive Murilo Ferreira on May 22, said he had left his mark on the company with the projects launched during his tenure.

“The projects will double the size of the company in the next few years,” he said.

Looking at his wife Andrea, who accompanied him to Mozambique, he said he was tired after spending 1,000 hours a year in the air on business travel away from his family.

“Now it's time to calm down,” he said.

But he added he remained excited about opportunities in Africa.

“I won't leave Mozambique far behind. I love, love, love everything here,” he said of the country that saw Vale's debut on the continent.

Vale achieved the best results in the history of the global mining industry last year, with net profits of US$17.3 billion.

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