Brazilian mining company Vale reported a 5.8% increase in iron ore production in the first three months of this year compared to the same period of 2022.
Output reached 66.8 million tonnes in the period, yet it was a 17.4% fall compared with the final quarter of last year.
Vale attributed the higher iron ore production versus last year to improved performance at its giant S11D mine and better weather in Minas Gerais state.
Pellet production, a premium product, jumped 20.1% from a year ago to 8.3 million tonnes. Pellet output also edged up 0.7% from the previous quarter due to greater availability of raw materials, said Vale.
Vale's iron ore sales declined 10.6% in the first quarter from a year earlier to 45.9 million tonnes, which also dropped 43.5% from the fourth quarter of last year. Pellet sales increased 16% from the first quarter of 2022 to 8.1 million tonnes but fell 7.5% from the final quarter of last year.
The gap between production and sales was the result of restrictions at the port where S11D iron ore is loaded onto ships and rebalancing Vale's supply chain following strong pellet sales at the end of last year.
Vale's sales forecast for this year remained the same because the company expects to offset the impact of these factors in the second half.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Harry Huo)
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