Vale was reported as the lowest-cost producer of iron ore this week as the downtrend in oil prices cut shipping costs, according to financial media.
“In the last few months we have seen the price for bunker fuel collapse in lock-step with the decline in the global oil price and with it a reordering of the cost position of the global iron-ore industry has taken place,” said Paul Gait, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd. in London, in a report Monday.
According to Gait, Vale is now shipping iron ore to China for about $6 a ton cheaper than Australian competitors, which includes the cost of mining.