The world's largest iron-ore mining company Vale announced Friday net income of $5.92 billion in 2010, more than tripling Q4 2009 profits of $1.52 billion because of escalating iron ore prices.
According to the official release, "It is our best ever annual result, characterized by all-time high figures for operating revenues, operating income, operating margin, cash generation and net earnings. Net earnings for 2010 were the greatest ever in the mining industry. At the same time, we allocated the greatest amount of resources in the global mining industry to fund the creation of new platforms for future growth to sustain high performance." In 2011, Vale plans to invest $24 billion to expand iron ore output capacity to 522 million metric tons by 2015.
In Q4 2010 Vale shipped 81.9 million metric tons of iron ore and pellets-17 percent higher than Q4 2009 shipments. Vale produced 307.8 million metric tons of iron ore in 2010, a 29 percent increase over 2009 production, and the highest level ever for the company.