RIO DE JANEIRO -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian mining company Vale SA (VALE, VALE5.BR) will seek to safeguard its own best interests and rights in any possible sale of the control of Brazil's Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico or CSA, Vale's CEO Murilo Ferreira said Friday. Vale has supported the five-million-metric-tons-a-year steel slabs works in Rio de Janeiro since the start of the project and is prepared to support changes that would lead to the best strategic planning solution for the company and safeguard its sales of iron ore to the works, Ferreira told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. CSA is controlled by Germany's ThyssenKrupp Steel (TKA.XE) and Vale has a minority stake of 27%. Earlier this week, the German steelmaker said it may consider selling it stake due to the unit's high costs. "Vale's not a steelmaker," Ferreira said, indicating the mining company is not planning to increase its stake in CSA. -By Diana Kinch, Dow Jones Newswires, Tel: 55 21 7564 4495. diana.kinch@dowjones.com
