Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-based Vale, the world's largest producer and exporter of iron ore, announced Monday that it had to temporarily halt production at its mine in the Minas Gerais state due to heavy rains. The Minas Gerais state, located in southeastern Brazil, has been hit hard this past year with torrential rain leading to the evacuation of thousands of homes and businesses.
During the third quarter, the Minas Gerais state accounted for 52.5 million metric tons of raw material out of Vale's total output of 85.03 million metric tons. It has been reported that overall production of the mines have not been affected and that the rail transportation of the iron ore has continued as normal.