Vale S.A. (Vale), a Brazilian multinational corporation engaged in metals and mining, announced that its output of iron ore in the fourth quarter of 2020 was 84.5 million tons, sliding by 5% compared to the previous quarter and up by 7.9% from the same period a year ago. The quarter-on-quarter reduction was due to increased rainfall and restrictions in production.

In 2020, Vale’s iron ore fines production amounted to 300.4 million tons, down by 0.5% year on year, in line with 2019 due to the resumption of halted productions.

These positive effects were totally offset by restrictions in tailings disposal in Itabira and Brucutu and the impact of the COVID epidemic.

However, Vale said that it is confident to reach its goal of an annual production capacity of 400 million tons by the end of 2022 despite the constraints brought by the epidemic and the postponement of new iron ore projects.