Brazil-based miner Vale has announced its operational results for the first quarter of this year, reporting iron ore production of 86.2 million mt, rising 11.2 percent year on year, mainly due to the ramp-up of the S11D and Itabiritos projects in the Southeastern System. In the given period, Vale's pellet production amounted to 12.42 million mt, up 8.2 percent compared to the same quarter of 2016.
Vale’s iron ore production guidance for the current year remains within the 360-380 million mt range and from the end of 2018 onwards Vale will most likely achieve the long-term base case target of 400 million mt.
In the first quarter this year, Vale's nickel production decreased by 2.9 percent year on year to 71,400 mt, mainly due planned maintenance shutdowns in Indonesia and Japan and operational challenges at its Thompson operations.
Meanwhile, in the given quarter, Vale’s coal production reached 2.43 million mt, increasing by 46.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2016. The good performance was due to record production from the Moatize coal mine. Production of metallurgical coal amounted to 1.63 million mt, 19.5 percent higher than the same period of the previous year.