Vale´s Production Report for the fourth quarter of 2020 (4Q20) was released on Wednesday, February 3rd. The year of 2020 ends with the partial resumption of all iron ore fines operations halted in 2019, which became even more challenging due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to adopt measures to protect employees and support communities.
Vale's iron ore fines production totalled 300.4 Mt in 2020, in line with 2019. In 4Q20, the company produced 84.5 Mt of iron ore fines, 5% lower than in 3Q20 mainly due to higher rainfall levels2 and tailings disposal restrictions in Southeastern System. Considering production restrictions, Vale ended 2020 with 322 Mt of production capacity and expects to achieve 350 Mt capacity by the end of 2021.
In 4Q20, the company resumed Serra Leste and Fábrica sites in Iron Ore Business and resumed Moatize revamp works. The quarter was marked by a strong quarter-on-quarter sales increase in the Iron Ore (25.9%), Copper (15.4%) and Nickel (13.6%) businesses.
Although the pandemic-related impacts and measures reduced productivity in all businesses and postponed, in 2020, the start-up of the new iron ore assets, Vale remains confident to achieve 400 Mtpy capacity by the end of 2022.