Vale increases iron ore production to its highest level since 2018 in Q3

Brazilian mining company Vale has demonstrated the highest level of iron ore production since 2018. In the third quarter of 2025, the company produced 94.4 million tons of ore, up 3.8% year-on-year and 12.9% quarter-on-quarter. This is stated in the company’s report.

The growth was driven by a new quarterly record at the S11D mine and a gradual increase in capacity at other projects.

Iron ore sales for the period amounted to 86 million tons, up 5.1% compared to the third quarter of 2024 and 11.2% q/q. The company also recorded an improvement in price dynamics – the average selling price increased by 4.2% y/y and 10.9% q/q – to $94.4/t, and the ore premium increased to $2.1/t (+23.5% y/y; +90.9% q/q).

At the same time, pellet production decreased by 22.8% y/y, but increased by 1.9% q/q – to 8 million tonnes, due to weaker demand for high value-added products and adjustments to the supply portfolio in line with market conditions. Sales of pellets amounted – to 8.77 million tonnes, down 13.5% y/y but up 17.2% q/q. The average selling price of these products also decreased to $130.8/t, down 11.7% y/y and 2.5% q/q.

In total, in 9M2025, Vale produced 245.7 million tonnes of iron ore (+1.3% y/y) and 23 million tonnes of pellets (-16.9% yoy), confirming that its annual results are close to the upper end of the forecast – 325-335 million tonnes of iron ore and 31-35 million tonnes of pellets.

The company notes that the steady increase in production and higher quality premiums demonstrate the effective implementation of its product management strategy and portfolio optimization in a volatile steel market.

As a reminder, in 2024, Vale reached its highest level of iron ore production since 2018 – 327.67 million tons, up 2% year-on-year. Pellets production increased by 1.2% y/y – to 36.89 million tons. At the same time, in the fourth quarter, mining decreased by 4.6% y/y – to 85.28 million tons, while pellet production decreased by 6.9% y/y – to 9.17 million tons.