RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian miner Vale produced 67.7 million metric tons of iron in the first quarter of 2025, down 4.5% from a year earlier, the company reported on Tuesday in its sales and output report.
One of the world’s largest iron ore producers, Vale said high rainfall levels impacted its Brazilian Northern system mining complex, but added the quarterly performance came under its plans and “has adherence to the 2025 output guidance”.
Vale reaffirmed its forecast to produce between 325 million tons and 335 million tons of iron ore in 2025.
Sales of the steel-making ingredient rose 3.6% in the quarter year-on-year to 66.1 million tons, the report showed, with Vale attributing the increase to its “supply chain flexibility using advanced inventories.”
The average realized price of Vale’s iron ore fines was of $90.8 per ton in the quarter ended in March, down almost 10% year-on-year and a 2.4% decline from the last quarter of 2024.
Meanwhile, on its base metals businesses, Vale’s copper production increased 11% in the quarter year-on-year to about 90,900 tons. Nickel output also rose some 11% in the same comparison to around 43,900 tons.
(Reporting by Andre Romani in Sao Paulo and Marta Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro, Editing by Natalia Siniawski)
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