CVRD Additional Dividend Payment

Rio de Janeiro, August 27, 2003 – Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) informs that its Board of Directors approved today an additional dividend payment to shareholders, as proposed by the Company's Executive Committee on August 13, 2003. The proposal was based on the CVRD Dividend Policy and established the additional amount of US$ 0.65 per common or preferred outstanding share (equivalent to US$ 250 million), to be paid in one installment on October 31, 2003. Also on October 31, the payment for the second installment of the minimum dividend determined on January 30, 2003 will be made.

The additional dividend will be paid according to the following procedures:

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.