São Paulo – Mining company Vale produced 2.41 million tonnes of iron ore pellets in Oman in Q3 this year, down 7.2% from a year ago and down 1.7% from Q2 2019. The company has had operations in the Arab country for eight years, where it pelletizes iron ore.
Despite the decrease, the company wrote in its production report release this Monday (14) that Q3 production was “in line” with Q2 2019 and Q3 2018. In Q2 this year, Vale produced 2.45 million tonnes of pellets in Oman, while last year’s production was 2.6 million tonnes, the report read.
Year-to-date through September, the mining production in Oman also slid, by 1.2%. It saw 6.84 million tonnes during the first nine months this year from 6.98 million from a year ago.
In Sohar, Oman, Vale has a pelletizing industrial complex, as well as storage facilities and a sea terminal. Processing takes place near a deep-sea port, the SOHAR Port, 200 kilometers from the country’s capital city, Muscat. Processed ore is imported from Brazil.
Overall, pellet production was 22.7% in Q3 2019 from Q2 but down 19.8% from a year ago. Volume produced in Brazil and abroad combined was 11.1 million tonnes.
Vale reported that the growth from Q2 was due to a better operational performance. Vale explains Q2 was impacted by a maintenance carried out at the Tubarão (SC) plants, and 19.8% lower than in Q2 2018, mainly due to stoppage at the Fábrica and Vargem Grande operations (MG).
Iron ore production was 86.7 million tonnes from July to September, up 35.4% from the previous quarter. Year-on-year, it was a 17.4% decline, tough. Year-to-date through September, production slid 21.2% at 223.6 million tonnes of ore produced.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
