Brazilian miner Vale said in a statement that its iron ore production reached 75.971 million metric tons (mt) in the second quarter of 2026, up 0.8 percent from the second quarter of 2025, while pellet production fell 7 percent to 7.303 million mt over the same period.
Increased iron production ore was the result of record production at the S11D and Brucutú mines, as well as ongoing expansion efforts at the Capanema and VGR1 projects.
The decline in pellet production reflects the temporary shutdown of production at the Oman plant during part of the second quarter.
On the same comparative basis, iron ore sales increased 3.1 percent to 79.747 million tonnes, with fines sales increasing by 3.4 percent to 69.946 million tons, pellet sales increased 3.5 percent to 7.748 million tons, and run-of-mine sales decreased 6 percent to 2.053 million tons
Average selling prices achieved by the company during the period were US$95 per tonne of iron ore fines, up 11.6 percent, and US$137 per tonne pellets. Up 2.2 percent from the second quarter of 2025.
For 2026, the company maintained production guidance of 335 to 345 million tons of iron ore and 30 to 34 million tons of pellets.
Luis Compagnoni EditorI am a retired mechanical engineer covering the Latin American steel industry, from iron and steel to ore to finished products, over the past 20 years.
There are no comments yet.