Eternit receives revenue from asbestos exports pending STF decision

Last year alone, asbestos exports generated R$364 million in revenue for the company. The value represents a third of Eternit’s total revenue for the year, which amounted to R$1.1 billion.

The company has just emerged from a litigation recovery. Eternit entered the judicial recovery phase in 2018, after the country banned asbestos. After launching mining in Goiás, in 2019, the company returned to profit. In 2021, the pandemic came, and tile sales exploded, boosting the company’s recovery. In October last year, Eternit asked the court to end the recovery process. The decision was made last Friday (9).

If the mine closes, the company will need to simplify its structure, the CEO says.

The company wouldn’t have the same structure as it does today. If the mine closed, for example, my salary wouldn’t fit here. Without the mine we would have to move to another level of fixed costs, and we would have to cut costs.
Paulo Roberto de Oliveira Andrade, CEO of Eternit

The company expects that if the decision is made to close the mine, its impact will not be immediate. One argument is the impact on the city’s economy. The company says the mine currently employs about 400 people. Including indirect workers, the number rises to about 1,500.

But, according to a study by the Department of Public Works, the area does not depend on asbestos for survival. The survey by the International Labour Organization (ILO) shows that there is economic diversity in the city, which has become a centre for trade and exploration of other minerals, MPT says.