the mining company Vale expects to produce between 320 million and 335 million tonnes of iron ore in 2022, indicating an increase in production compared to 2021 at best, according to projections released this Monday (29) during the event with investors in New York.
For 2021, the production estimate was revised this Monday to 315-320 million tons. Previously, the target for this year was 315 million to 335 million tons.
Even so, the company will again increase production this year, after falling in 2020 with the contribution of several mine stoppages that underwent safety reviews after the dam failure in January 2019.
Last year, the company’s production was 300.4 million tons, against almost 302 million in 2019.
“The ‘value over volume’ approach will continue to define the production and sales strategy”, highlighted the company, in a presentation to the market, pointing out that it will prioritize the quality of its products to obtain gains, to the detriment of the volumes to be produced.
As part of its strategy, the mining company has been working on mixing lesser quality ore, in old mines in Minas Gerais, with a higher content product and less contaminants, extracted in Pará.
The production of pellets iron ore The company, in turn, is expected to reach 34 million to 38 million tons in 2022, the company informed, versus 29.7 million in 2020 and 41.8 million in 2019. From 2023 onwards, the production of pellets should be of more than 50 million tons.
The company also said that it should reach an iron ore production capacity of 370 million tonnes by the end of 2022, against 341 million this year. In addition, it projected to reach a capacity of 400 million tons in the medium term and 400-450 million tons in the long term.
The Northern System, where Vale’s largest mine is located (S11D), should account for 215 million tons of capacity in the medium term and 240-260 million tons in the long term.
Base Metals
On the base metals side, Vale estimates production of 330-335 thousand tons of copper in 2022; from 390-420 million tons between 2023 and 2026 and above 450,000 tons after 2027.
In the case of nickel, production is expected to be 175-190 thousand tons between 2022 and 2023 and more than 200 thousand tons after 2024.
The numbers compare to a copper production of 360.1 thousand tons in 2020 and a nickel production of 214.7 thousand tons.
In the presentation, Vale pointed out that 2021 was a challenging year for base metals, with a comprehensive review of safety and strategy; maintenance delays at Sossego due to restrictions related to Covid-19; maintenance activities at the Sossego mill and the Onça Puma kiln; two months of interruption of work in Sudbury and delays in scheduled maintenance due to stoppage at the Canadian plant.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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