Brazilian miner Vale produced 66.774 million mt of iron ore fines in the first quarter of 2023, down 17.4 percent from the previous quarter.
Under the same comparative basis, the production of pellets increased by 0.7 percent to 8.3 million mt, while sales of iron ore fines declined by 43.5 percent to 45.9 million mt and sales of pellets declined by 7.5 percent to 8.1 million mt.
In terms of pricing, the average price of iron ore fines increased by 13.6 percent to $108.60/mt, while the price of the pellets declined by 1.9 percent to $162.50/mt.
When comparing Q1 2023 and Q1 2022, the production of iron ore actually increased by 5.8 percent, the production of pellets increased by 20.1 percent, sales of iron ore fines declined by 10.6 percent and sales of pellets increased by 16.0 percent, with the average iron ore price declining by 23.2 percent and the average pellet price declining by 16.5 percent.
The company maintains its iron ore production guide for 2023 in the 310-320 million mt range and in the 36-40 million mt range for pellet production.