Net losses at Brazilian iron ore and pellets producer Samarco, soared nearly 80 percent for all of 2025 to $4.612 billion against a net loss of $2.571 billion for 2024, the company said today in a press release.
The results reflect expenses related to indemnifications paid due to the 2015 collapse of the Fundão Dam. Operations restarted in 2020.
In 2025, Samarco paid $1.726 billion in expenses related to socio-environmental recuperation and $1.949 billion in funding for the Renova Foundation, dedicated to indemnifications related to the dam collapse. Such expenses compare respectively with $155.5 million and $840.2 million in 2024.
In 2025, Samarco’s net sales revenues ijumped by 30 percent from 2024 to $1.897 billion, and production costs per metric ton (mt) slipped by 16 percent to $42.8/mt. The adjusted EBITDA, which excludes non-recurrent items, increased by 30 percent to $1.086 billion.
By volume, 2025 production soared 55 percent to 15.1 million mt, while sales jumped by 68 percent to 15.9 million mt.
With engineering concluded and licensing secured, Samarco started its Phase 3 project, unlocking the final stage of the operational restart, bringing the company back to its full capacity of up to 30 million mt per year.