Brazilian miner Vale posted a net profit of $4.09 billion for the second quarter of 2022, against $4.46 billion achieved in the previous quarter and $8.15 billion achieved in the second quarter of 2021.
The decline reflects chiefly lower iron ore fines prices over the period, partially compensated by the increased volumes sold in the first half of 2022.
According to the company, the EBITDA of the first quarter of 2022, $6.374 billion, was positively affected in $1.376 billion by the higher volume sold, and negatively affected in $1.805 billion by the lower unit price, in $110 million by exchange rate variations, in $175 million by freight rates and in $126 million by other costs and expenses, resulting in an EBITDA of $5.534 billion for the second quarter of 2022.
During the second quarter of 2022, the average realized price of the iron ore fines was $113.3/mt, a decline of $28.1/mt from the first quarter of 2022, including lower premium derived from higher silica contents in the mix of ores.
For pellets, the average realized price during the second quarter of 2022 was $201.3/mt, $6.6/mt higher than in the previous quarter.
During the second quarter of 2022, Vale produced 74.1 million mt of iron ore fines and 8.67 million mt of pellets, increases of 17 percent and 25.1 percent from the previous quarter, respectively.
