Both Sweden and Brazil have a long history of mining. Both countries have vast knowledge and experience in the area, large mining companies and many mines, including the Brazilian mining company Vale, which is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and the 3rd largest diversified mining company in the world, and on the Swedish side, companies that are references in the development of mining machines, such as Sandvik and Epiroc (spin-off from Atlas Copco), and the Kiruna region, where Europe’s largest underground iron ore mine is located.

In Brazil, the sector accounts for 2.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), totaling 7% of the national wealth generated when including the mineral processing industry. Additionally, the mining sector in Sweden increased its share of the country’s GDP in the 2000s, and in 2010 it totaled 0.85% of GDP. Today Sweden produces around 93% of European iron. In 2013, the mining industry contributed about 11.4 billion euros to Sweden’s GDP, which is equivalent to about 3%. Sweden is also a pioneer in innovation and sustainable technologies in mining.

Combining these companies with Brazil’s strong developments in mining would provide mutual business opportunities, as well as knowledge sharing in technology, knowledge development, and social and sustainable responsibility processes. There is great potential to expand the existing exchange and cooperation between our countries by seeking mutually beneficial innovative solutions.

In order to improve cooperation between Sweden and Brazil in the area, a memorandum of understanding was signed in October 2015, where the countries reaffirmed their mutual interest in strengthening bilateral cooperation in the area of sustainable mining and underlined their commitment to exploring possibilities for cooperation in the areas of sustainable energy with a view to accelerating the transition to a clean energy future, among other commitments related to the environment, climate change, and sustainable development.

Mining at the Sweden-Brazil Innovation Weeks
The Sweden-Brazil Innovation Weeks are a bi-annual activity organized by Team Sweden Brazil and coordinated by the Swedish Embassy in Brasilia. Mining is one of the priority areas, which has in the event a platform for commercial promotion and a possibility to explore, discover, and analyze new business and cooperation opportunities between Sweden and Brazil.

Check out the schedule for the Sweden-Brazil Innovation Week 2024 here.