Brazil’s miner and iron ore manufacturer, Vale, announced that it expected to complete several projects this year to increase iron ore production capacity, including the resumption of pelletizing activities at its Vargem Grande mine before the first quarter, the restart plan of its Maravilhas III and the filter plant, Torto mine's resumption plan, and its Serra Leste and S11D's mine expansion plan.

Excluding potential restrictions, all plans were expected to increase iron ore production capacity by as much as 49 million tons in 2021. However, Vale also indicated that if potential restrictions were included, the total capacity increase may drop to 35 million tons.