Brazil-based miner Vale has announced its financial results for the first quarter of the current year, reporting a net loss of $1.64 billion, decreasing from the net profit of $3.78 billion recorded in the last quarter of 2018, mainly due to the provisions related to the Brumadinho dam rupture and lower sales volumes. In the first quarter of 2018, Vale had posted a net profit of $1.6 billion.
In the first quarter this year, Vale’s net operating revenues decreased by 16.4 percent quarter on quarter to $8.2 billion, while falling by 4.6 percent year on year. The company’s adjusted EBITDA in the same quarter amounted to negative $652 million, compared to $4.5 billion in the fourth quarter of last year and $3.92 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.
Vale stated that in the given quarter its iron ore and pellets production amounted to 72.9 million mt, down 11 percent, and its sales volumes decreased by 20 percent to 67.7 million mt, both compared to the same period of the previous year.