Honouring Mário Barbosa

"Vita brevis, ars longa!"
Mário Barbosa leaves Vale Fertilizantes Executive Direction
Mário Alves Barbosa Neto, 65, is a Production Engineer from Escola Politécnica da USP and MBA from FGV; was CEO of Bunge Fertilizantes S.A.; Director of ANDA – Associação Nacional para Difusão de Adubos; Chairman of Fosbrasil Board, Chairman of Fertifos and of Fosfértil and Ultrafertil S.A.; Chair person in Santista Têxtil S.A. and Bunge Brasil S.A.
Young, he married the daughter of Fernando Penteado Cardoso, founder of Manah.
As CFO of Manah he managed to build G-8 (as was called the group of Brazilian Fertilizer companies that took over Fosfertil and after Ultrafértil when they where privatized). He became Fosfértil´s CEO in 1993.
When Bunge's top management turned professional in early 90's, first with Ludwig Schmitt- Rhaden and after with Mr. Alberto Weisser, "Doctor Mário" was hired by Bunge in 1994 to sell Quimbrasil and Serrana mining chemical conglommerate as part of a concentration reengineering.
But Mário was a great consolidator and, instead, convinced Bunge to grow before selling, and work hard in Bunge Fertilizantes up to 2010 (incorporating Manah, IAP, Takenaka and Elekeiroz and later "almost" merged to Fosfértil and Ultrafértil). Bunge Fertilizers became a strong multinational (with operations in Brazil, Argentina and Morocco) and a Brazilian Fertilizer giant.
In 2010 Bunge Limited decided to sell its fertilizers mining and raw materials businesses and Vale (then with operations in Peru, Argentina and Sergipe) was searching for aquisitions. Bunge, Fosfértil and Vale where "married" in 2010. Mário Barbosa's last task as Executive Director of Vale was to consolidate Vale Fertilizantes in 2011.
Now Eduardo Bartolomeo, a Vale insider (from metals and coal), takes Mario´s place. Welcomed in "Fertilizers and Coal" after Murilo Ferreira approved a direction reshape, Bartolomeo arrives with Vale approval to a US 6 billion expansion in Moatize (coal and railways - Mozambique) and US$ 15 billion in Fertilizers (Salitre - Patrocínio - MG, Evate - Mozambique, Nitric at Cubatão, Potassium in Sergipe´s Carnalita, Rio Colorado and Antofalla - Argentina and Kronau - Saskatchewan - Canadá and revampings in Brazil in general). Good news!
Mário Barbosa´s legend in Brazilian Fertilizer Industry is iconical. And speaking of his generation, consolidation he promoted is not yet finished. His fellows like Bill Doyle, Jim Prokopanko, Mostapha Terrab and Akiva Moses are still giving cards in big companies (respectivelly PCS, Mosaic, OCP and ICL). We would like to send him congratulations for the work done and honour his enormous contributions to create and nourish Vale as a Brazilian champion in Fertilizers!
Co-workers will continue this "saga" of Brazilian and World industrial and agronomical fertilizers businesses...as started and developed among us by giants like Luiz Manuel Pinto de Queiroz, Fernando Hackradt, Herculano de Godoy Passos, Pery Igel, Clóvis Galante, Luiz Bocallato, Fernando Cardoso, Wladimir Puggina, Paulo Abib Andery, Nelson Pereira dos Reis, Dalton Heringer, Godofreddo Vitti, Germano Becker, Fernando Cardoso, Rodolfo Galvani, Eurípedes Malavolta, etc and Mário Barbosa!