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by Vale (NYSE:VALUE) Q4 iron ore production fell 1% from the last quarter of a year earlier and nearly 10% from Q3 to 80.9 million tonnes, the company’s latest output. Quarterly production report said Tuesday.
iron ore Q4 Sales volume decreased 0.7% from a year earlier while increasing 24.2% qoq to 81.2 million tons.
Iron ore pellet production in the fourth quarter fell 8.9% year-on-year while increasing 0.1% q-o-q to 8.3 million tonnes.
For the whole year, Vale (VALUE) said total annual production reached 307.8 million tonnes, slightly below their forecast of 310 million tonnes, citing seasonally higher rainfall at their mines in Brazil and delays allowed at Serra Norte by miss.
Q4 nickel production fell 1.3% year-on-year to 47.4k tonnes, following scheduled maintenance shutdowns at plants in Canada, but nickel sales volume increased 30.2% to 58, 2 thousand tons due to the company transferring pent-up stocks to fulfill supply contracts.
Vale (VALUE) “seems to have the ability to control iron ore production by 2023, potentially setting a floor for iron prices,” Juxtaposed Ideas wrote in a report. Analysis recently posted on Seeking Alpha.
