United States
Securities and Exchange Commission

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the month of

December 2005

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce

Avenida Graça Aranha, No. 26
20005-900 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

(Address of principal executive office)

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.)

(Check One) Form 20-F þ     Form 40-F o

(Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1))

(Check One) Yes o     No þ

(Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7))

(Check One) Yes o     No þ

(Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.)

(Check One) Yes o     No þ

(If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b). 82-     .)

 

 

Table of Contents

Press Release
Signature Page

		Press Release

CVRD will have a minority stake in a steel plant in Brazil

Rio de Janeiro, December 15, 2005 — Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), the world largest producer of iron ore and pellets, announces that it will be a minority shareholder in Ceará Steel (Ceará), a steel slab project in the state of Ceará, Brazil, with a nominal capacity of 1.5 million tons per year of slabs. Ceará is an export-oriented project, and the plant is expected to come on stream in 2009.

CVRD will have a 9% stake in the project. The main shareholders of Ceará are: Dongkuk Steel, one of major steel producers in South Korea, with 34%, Danieli, an Italian company specialized in production of equipment to steel industry, with 17%, and BNDES, the Brazilian national development bank, with 40%.

The total investment in the project will be US$750 million and CVRD will be the exclusive supplier of pellets for Ceará.

This project is aligned with CVRD strategy to promote the iron ore consumption through minority and temporary stakes in steel projects in Brazil.

For further information, please contact:
Roberto Castello Branco: roberto.castello.branco@cvrd.com.br +55-21-3814-4540
Alessandra Gadelha: alessandra.gadelha@cvrd.com.br +55-21-3814-4053
Barbara Geluda: barbara.geluda@cvrd.com.br +55-21-3814-4557
Daniela Tinoco: daniela.tinoco@cvrd.com.br +55-21-3814-4946
Eduardo Mello Franco: eduardo.mello.franco@cvrd.com.br +55-21-3814-9849
Fábio Lima: fabio.lima@cvrd.com.br +55-21-3814-4271

This press release may contain statements that express management’s expectations about future events or results rather than historical facts. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements, and CVRD cannot give assurance that such statements will prove correct. These risks and uncertainties include factors: relating to the Brazilian economy and securities markets, which exhibit volatility and can be adversely affected by developments in other countries; relating to the iron ore business and its dependence on the global steel industry, which is cyclical in nature; and relating to the highly competitive industries in which CVRD operates. For additional information on factors that could cause CVRD’s actual results to differ from expectations reflected in forward-looking statements, please see CVRD’s reports filed with the Brazilian Comissão de Valores Mobiliários and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

		COMPANHIA VALE DO RIO DOCE           (Registrant)
Date: December 15, 2005		By:		/s/ Roberto Castello Branco
				Roberto Castello Branco
				Director of Investor Relations