Brazil-based miner Vale has announced its operational results for the second quarter and the first half of the current year, reporting iron ore production of 67.6 million mt in the second quarter, rising by 13.4 percent compared to the previous quarter and up 5.5 percent year on year.

In the second quarter, Vale’s manganese ore production declined by 59 percent quarter on quarter and down by 53.1 percent year on year to 149,000 mt.

Vale stated that the second quarter production faced some impacts caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, the company noted that operational performance improved towards the end of the second quarter amid the end of the rainy season despite impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and operational challenges faced in the given period. In the first half of the year, the company produced 127.2 million mt of iron ore and 512,000 mt of manganese ore, decreasing by 7.1 percent and 25 percent year on year, respectively.

Vale said its iron ore and manganese ore sales volumes in the first half of this year fell by 9.4 percent and was up by 42.2 percent year on year, to 106.27 million mt and 489,000 mt, respectively, while pellet sales in the same period totaled 14.26 million mt, down by 32.6 percent on year-on-year basis. In the given period, the company sold 4.48 million mt of coal and 107.8 million mt of nickel, falling by 34.2 percent and 19.7 percent year on year, respectively.