Vale reported late Wednesday net earnings of about $2.7 billion in Q2, down from $3.8 billion in Q1 and from $6.45 billion a year earlier. Vale said that shipments reached 63 million mt, 14.9 percent higher than in Q1, and pellet sales for a quarter reached record levels at 12.3 million mt, 13.1 percent above the previous record in Q4 2011.
However, averaging selling prices per mt of $$103.29 were down significantly from $145.30 in the year-ago quarter, pushing net sales down 21 percent to $11.9 billion. Meanwhile, iron ore output increased slightly to 85 million mt over the quarter.