Vale Overseas Limited Announces Proposed Offering of Guaranteed Notes

Rio de Janeiro, July 28, 2003 – Vale Overseas Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) announced today that it intends to sell ten years note in the international markets. The notes will be unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of Vale Overseas Limited and will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by CVRD. The guarantee will rank equally in right of payment with all of CVRD’s other unsecured and unsubordinated debt obligations.

The net proceeds of the offering will be used for the CVRD group’s general corporate purposes.

The notes to be offered and the related guarantee have not been and, at the time of the offering, will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under, or an applicable exemption from, the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state securities laws.

The Company expects to file a registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and to make its best efforts to exchange the notes for others registered with the SEC within 180 days of the closing date of the initial offering.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the notes, nor shall there be any sale of these notes in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) to investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2001 (the “Order”) or (iii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”). The notes are only available to, and any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such notes will be engaged in only with, relevant persons. Any person who is not a relevant person should not act or rely on this communication or any of its contents.

Stabilization / FSA

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.