Vale, the big Brazilian iron ore giant, has had a rip-roaring bounce-back in the June quarter. So much so, it has snatched back the title of the world’s biggest producer from Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO).
However, Rio Tinto has held on to the title as the leading iron ore exporter by the end of June.
According to Vale's quarterly report released on Tuesday, the company reported a solid 2.4% rise in iron ore production for the June quarter to 80.3 million tonnes, compared to a year ago.
The second-quarter production performance was also nearly 14% higher than the 70.8 million tonnes produced in the March quarter, when operations were impacted by bad weather.
Vale's production was just ahead of Rio, which reported on Tuesday that it produced 79.5 million tonnes of ore in the three months to June 30th.
Vale also reported sharp increases in sales, reaching 79.8 million tonnes, up from the depressed March quarter's 63.8 million tonnes and 73.4 million tonnes in the June 2023 quarter.
However, some of Vale’s sales are diverted to pellets, with the rest sold as fines, whereas Rio exports mostly fines and some lump for Japanese steel mills.
On that basis, Vale’s fines sales totaled 63.8 million tonnes, up 30% from the first quarter and 8% from the June quarter of last year.
Rio was well ahead of that figure, stating in Tuesday’s report that it shipped 80.3 million tonnes of mostly fines from its Pilbara operations in the three months ended June 30th, compared with 78 million tonnes in the first quarter. The second quarter was also 2% above the June 2023 figure.
For the six months to June 30th, Vale reported sales of 143.6 million tonnes, up 10% from the first half of 2023.
Rio’s six-month production of 157.4 million tonnes was down 2% from a year earlier.
Rio maintained its 2024 guidance at 323 million tonnes to 338 million tonnes, ahead of Vale’s maintained guidance of 310 million to 320 million tonnes.
On that basis, both giant miners expect a significant rise in second-half production and sales.
To meet the lower end of its guidance, Vale is looking at producing around 167 million tonnes. To meet the lower end of its guidance, Rio will have to produce more than 166 million tonnes.
