On January, 21, Brazilian mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Vale) announced its production results for 2008.
Accordingly, in 2008 Vale saw a slight decrease in its production of iron ore compared to 2007, as the global financial crisis affected demand in that period. In 2008, Vale produced 301.7 million mt of iron ore, down 0.5 percent from 303.2 million mt the previous year.
Vale's iron ore production in the fourth quarter of 2008 came to 63.3 million mt, showing a decrease of 26.3 percent from the previous quarter, and a decline of 21.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007.
Vale's attributable pellet production in 2008 reached 44.8 million mt, approximately the same level as in 2007. Vale produced 30.6 million mt of blast furnace pellets in 2008, while the direct reduction pellet output reached 14.2 mt. As a consequence of the slower pace of operational activity, Vale's pellet production reached 9.6 million mt in the fourth quarter of 2008, down 24.9 compared with the third quarter of the year, and down 17.9 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2007.
Moreover, Vale achieved a record annual coal production of 4.1 million mt for 2008, comprised of 2.8 million mt of metallurgical coal, up 59.2 percent from 1.8 million mt in 2007, and 1.3 million mt of thermal coal, up 192.1 percent from 440,000 mt in the previous year. Vale's total coal production in the fourth quarter of 2008 reached 1.1 million mt, including 703,000 mt of metallurgical coal, up 2.4 percent from the third quarter of 2008 and down 7.2 percent from Q4 2007, and 387,000 mt thermal coal, up 7.1 percent from Q3 2008 and up 75.6 percent from the same period in 2007.