Vale’s third-quarter iron ore output edges up

Brazil’s Vale SA (NYSE:VALE), one of the world’s largest miners, on Monday reported a third-quarter iron ore production up slightly from the previous year, while its smaller nickel output soared as refineries resumed operations.

Vale’s output of iron ore, its main product, reached 89.7 million tonnes for the third quarter, up 1.1% from the previous year. Sales of the steelmaking ingredient grew 3.5% to 69.0 million tonnes.

Meanwhile, nickel production for the period leapt 71.5% to 51,800 tonnes, as refineries resumed after a maintenance period, Vale said.

Nickel sales, however, grew just 6%, which Vale attributed to low container availability and sales commitments during maintenance stoppages in the last three months of this year.