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Yesterday, Brazlian mining firm Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) announced its 2005 capital expenditure budget will be $3.3 billion, a 68 percent increase compared with 2004 spending.

The budget includes more funds for the company's three railroads, Ferro Carajás Railroad, Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas and Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica. CVRD's $760 million logistics budget includes funds to purchase 5,606 rail cars and 123 locomotives. Last year, the company bought 3,178 cars and 88 locomotives. CVRD plans to use 864 of the new cars and 41 of the new locomotives to move general cargo.

During the past four years, the three railroads moved more than 100 billion net tons of general cargo, with carloads growing an average of 11.1 percent annually.