(Bloomberg) — Brazil’s Vale SA iron ore manufacturing within the second quarter beat estimates, pushed by an output report from its flagship mine in Brazil.
The key iron ore provider delivered 83.6 million metric tons for the three months ending June 30, it mentioned in a Tuesday report. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg anticipated the corporate to ship 82 million tons of the steel-making ingredient. Output surpassed the year-ago interval and the earlier quarter.
Vale reached the best second-quarter output since 2021 at its most-prized operations in Carajas, in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, together with the S11D mine. It additionally talked about the ramp up of recent belongings together with a plant in Minas Gerais state, the place it has its oldest mines.
Iron ore gross sales lagged manufacturing, Vale mentioned. The Rio de Janeiro-based firm has been shifting from a value-over-volume strategy by providing a wider vary of grades to swimsuit market demand. Metal mill margins have been harassed, in order that they aren’t all the time paying a premium to purchase higher-quality ore Vale produces.
Iron ore costs misplaced worth after a 2025 peak in mid-February. They began to get better over the previous few weeks on indicators that supply-side reforms in China could also be gaining traction. China’s plan for a mega dam in Tibet additionally bolstered the outlook for demand.
Vale reported iron ore realized worth at $ 85.1 a ton within the quarter. Analysts anticipate weaker costs and better prices to offset the seasonally stronger iron ore volumes on the corporate’s earnings. Vale is about to launch monetary outcomes on July 31.
The miner saved unchanged its full-year iron ore manufacturing steerage of 325 million tons to 335 million tons unveiled in December.
Iron ore nonetheless accounts for round 80% of Vale’s revenues, however the firm is also a base metals producer with operations in Brazil, Canada and Indonesia. Nickel manufacturing rose 44.4% from the identical quarter final yr, whereas copper output was 17.8% greater.
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