Vale’s iron ore output hits another record

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Brazil’s Vale, the world’s No.1 iron ore miner, said output of the steelmaking material hit a fresh record high in the third quarter as its massive S11D mine in the Amazon continued to ramp up towards achieving full production in 2018.

The Rio de Janeiro-based company said iron ore production rose 3.3% compared with the same period last year to hit a fresh quarterly record of 95.1 million tonnes.

Sales volumes in the three months ended in October were lower than production volumes, implying a slight inventory build-up as a result of operational needs and market strategies. However, the sales/production volume ratio was higher than in the previous quarter of the year, it said.

Vale reiterated its output guidance for the year of between 360 million and 380 million tonnes of ore.

The mining giant, which is currently looking to sell a few of its loss-making operations, also saw nickel output climb to  72,700 tonnes, or 10.2% higher than in the previous quarter.

Source: mining.com