Vale increased iron ore production by 2.4% y/y in Q2

Brazilian mining company Vale has expressed confidence that it will reach the upper end of its 2024 forecast for iron ore production after increasing production in the second quarter. This is stated in the latest report of the company.

In April-June, the company increased ore production by 2.4% y/y and by 13.8% q/q – up to 80.6 million tons.

«This quarter’s performance underpins our confidence in reaching the upper end of the production plan for 2024,» the company said.

In 2024, Vale plans to produce 310-320 million tons of iron ore.

Sales of these raw materials in the second quarter increased by 7.3% year on year and 25% q/q – up to 79.8 million tons. The production of pellets in this period decreased by 2.4% y/y – up to 8.9 million tons compared to the first quarter, this figure increased by 5.1%.

The average sale price of Vale iron ore in the second quarter was $98.2/t, which is almost the same as the same period last year.

Vale and leading steel producer in Latin America Ternium will build a briquette plant in Santa Cruz, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Thus, Ternium seeks to reduce emissions from its slab production – it is expected that they will decrease by 10%.

As GMK Center Center reported earlier, the US Department of Energy in March this year chose Vale USA (a subsidiary of Vale) to begin negotiations on the provision of funding for the construction of a plant for the production of iron ore briquettes worth up to $282.9 million in the United States.