Vale lost R$ 71 billion (US$ 19 billion) in value market on Monday (28th). It was the company’s most significant loss in one day, in the first trading day after a dam collapsed in the town if Brumadinho, Minas Gerais.

The plunge was a clear indicator of the investors’ concern about the accident’s impact on Vale’s financial situation.

Previously, the biggest plunge the São Paulo Stock Exchange has seen belonged to Petrobras, which suffered a R$ 47.3 billion (US$ 12.7 billion)devaluation on May 24th, 2018, according to financial data platform Economatica.

Until last week, Vale was the third largest domestic company in the São Paulo Stock Exchange, losing only to Petrobras and Itaú. Now, it is behind Bradesco and Ambev.

Vale’s Monday loss is equivalent of the whole market value of pulp and paper company Suzano.

So far, Brazilian courts have forfeited R$ 11.8 billion (US$ 3 billion) from Vale, almost half of the company’s cash flow as of September 2018. It has also received fines of R$ 250 million (US$ 67 million) from Ibama, the government’s environmental inspection agency, and R$ 99 million (US$ 26.5 million)from Minas Gerais state government.

The dam collapse killed 65 people, and other 300 are still disappeared.
 

^{Translated by NATASHA MADOV}

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