Brazilian miner Vale grows iron ore output by 6%, sales flat

Brazilian miner Vale posted 6.3%growth in second-quarter iron ore production, compared to the same period last year, the company announced in a securities filing on Tuesday.

Vale said it mined 78.7 million metric tons of the key steel-making mineral during the April-to-June period.

Compared with iron ore production during the first quarter, output was up nearly 18%.

Second quarter sales, however, were mostly flat from the year-ago period at 63.3 million tons.

The gap between production and sales, which was already present in the previous quarter, should narrow in the third quarter, Vale predicted, backed by the sale of supplies built up during the first half of this year but depending on “market conditions,” the company noted.

Meanwhile, nickel production grew about 8% from a year ago, to reach 36,900 tons in the second quarter, while sales totaled 40,300 tons, up 2.5% on a year-on-year basis.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Peter Frontini; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and David Alire Garcia)