Vale posts gain in Q2 iron ore production, sees full year at high end of guidance

Vale (NYSE:VALE) reported late Tuesday that iron ore production in the June quarter rose 2.4% from a year earlier, exceeding expectations and reinforcing its confidence in achieving the upper end of its full-year output guidance.

In the miner’s latest update, Vale (VALE) said iron ore production reached 80.6M metric tons in Q2, supported by strong performances at S11D and Vargem Grande, while pellet production fell slightly to 8.9M tons and total iron ore sales increased 7.3% to 79.8M tons, helped by sales of inventories.

The company’s average realized price of iron ore fines was $98.20/ton in the quarter, down from Q1.

For the full year, Vale (VALE) maintained iron ore production guidance of 310M-320M tons.

Q2 nickel output fell 24.4% Y/Y to 27.9K tons, mostly due to planned maintenance at processing plants, and copper production was roughly flat at 78.6K tons, as bi-annual maintenance at its Sudbury plant offset a stronger performance at Salobo and Sossego.