Brazil's Vale said Thursday that seasonality usually makes Q1 the quarter with the weakest operational and financial performance of the year, with 2012 being no different; extremely heavy rainfalls in Brazil forced Vale to declare force majeure in January. Net earnings of US$ 3.8 billion represented an 18.1 percent drop against the US$ 4.7 billion in Q4 2011.
Still, Vale said pellet shipments were 10.4 million tons, a record for a first quarter, and up 0.9 percent year-on-year. Coal shipments reached a record 2.8 million tons.