The Brazilian miner Vale has posted a net profit of $1.940 billion for the first quarter of 2026, against $1.394 billion for the same period in 2025.
Net sales revenues rose by 14 percent to $9.258 billion, while production costs increased 13 percent to $6.173 billion. Gross profit decreased 16 percent to $3.085 billion, while operational profit soared 32 percent, reaching $2.375 billion.
During the first quarter, the iron ore fines business of Vale represented 61 percent of the company’s net sales revenues, while iron ore pellets were equivalent to 11 percent and other ferrous minerals to 1 percent. Other areas of Vale, including copper and nickel, represented 26 percent.
In terms of destinations, net sales revenues to Asia represented 64 percent of the total, of which 47 percent went to China, followed by Europe (17 percent), South America (9 percent), North America (5 percent), and the Middle East (2 percent), while other destinations accounted for 2 percent.
Sales of iron ore fines in the first three months of 2026 reached 59.436 million mt, while pellets sales reached 7.699 million mt and run-of-mine 1.578 million mt.
The average FOB prices achieved during the quarter were $95.8/mt for fines and $133.8/mt for pellets, respectively, increasing by 6 percent and declining by 5 percent from the first quarter of 2025.