Brazilian miner and iron ore producer Vale has announced its financial results for the first quarter this year. The company has posted a net profit of $5.54 billion for the given quarter compared to a net profit of $239 million in the first quarter of 2020 and a net profit of $739 million in the fourth quarter last year.
The company’s net revenues in the first quarter this year totaled $12.64 billion, down by 14.3 percent quarter on quarter and up by 81.6 percent year on year.
Adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter was $8.35 billion, up from $4.24 billion in the fourth quarter of the previous year. The company’s adjusted EBITDA margin in the given period increased to 66 percent from 29 percent in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, in the first quarter this year, the company concluded the sale of its operations of Vale New Caledonia.
According to the company’s statement, iron ore prices started to increase at the end of the fourth quarter last year, while the combination of seasonal supply reduction in the first quarter this year, low inventories across the supply chain, and the recovery in China lifted prices to near record highs. Vale expects the uptrend in iron ore prices amid supply shortage to continue in the second quarter this year and the production restrictions in China to impact iron ore demand throughout the year.