Brazilian miner Vale produced 70.84 million mt of iron ore fines in Q1 2024, 6.1 percent more than in Q1 2023, while the production of pellets increased in the period by 1.8 percent to 8.47 million mt.
Under the same comparative basis, iron ore fines sales increased by 14.6 percent to 52.55 million mt, pellets sales increased by 13.4 percent to 9.23 million mt and run-off-mine (ROM) grade iron ore sales increased by 23.5 percent to 2.06 million mt, while the average sales price of the iron ore fines declined by 7.3 percent and increased by 5.8 percent for pellets.
According to the company, the increased production reflects the continued initiatives to improve asset reliability at S11D, in the north of the country, coupled with higher third-party purchases.
The company maintains for 2024 the guidance of producing iron ore fines in a volume range of 310 to 320 million mt, and 38 to 42 million mt of pellets.
When comparing the numbers of Q1 2024 to those of the previous quarter, the iron ore production declined by 20.8 percent, the pellets production declined by 14.0 percent, iron ore fines sales declined by 32.5 percent, pellets sales declined by 10.3 percent and ROM sales declined by 4.7 percent, in a downturn reflecting chiefly a higher base of comparison, as Q4 2023 has achieved an all-time record of production and sales, when considering the last quarter of the years.