- Iron ore guidance unchanged at 310-330 mnt
- Pellet guidance lowered to 30-35 mn t against 35-40 mn t due to lower market demand and postponement of resumption at Vargem Grande plant.
Vale total iron ore production in H1 CY’20 recorded at 127.2 mn t, down 7% compared to 136.9 mn t in H1 CY19. The production dropped amid COVID related impact causing a loss of 3.5 mn t in output caused due to 12 day suspension at Itabira complex, increased quarantine-related absenteeism and postponements of plant maintenance.
Another reason was long-distance conveyor belt maintenance at S11D, with a negative impact of 2.1 mn t. Despite the operational challenges faced in H1CY’20, the performance improved towards the end of Q2CY’20 with the end of rainy season recording June’20 (iron ore fines) output at 25.1 mn t.
The pellet output witnessed 34% fall on a yearly basis to 14 mn t against 21.2 mn t in H1 CY19.
Vale total iron ore and pellet sales recorded at 120.53 mn t in H1CY’20, down 13% y-o-y as compared to 138.52 mn t in H1 CY19. The sales witnessed a drop due to logistics lead time between production and sales, with part of Q2CY20 output on the move for sale in the coming quarter.
Key Updates:
- Vale expects to resume production at Timbopeba site in Q1 CY’21
- The Fábrica operation resumption postponed to Q2CY21.
- The Vargem Grande pellet plant is expected to be resumed in Q2 CY’21.
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