Vale sees silver lining in nation's cleanup efforts

China's efforts to reduce pollution are expected to boost demand for Vale's high-quality iron ore, while the Brazilian miner will continuously diversify its business, said Fabio Schvartsman, Vale's chief executive officer.

The nation's continuous efforts to clean up its skies and improve productivity by shutting down smaller polluting steel mills have boosted demand for high-grade iron ore, which represents more opportunities for suppliers of better quality ore like Vale, he said.

"Vale has a very large and very successful iron ore business and the advantage that the Brazilian firm has to offer is the higher proportion of high-quality iron ore, which is very important at this moment for China," said Schvartsman.