Iron Ore and pellets

Vale’s iron ore production achieved a quarterly record of 95.1 Mt in 3Q17, 3.3 Mt higher than in 2Q17. The results can be explained due to better operational performance in the Northern System and the S11D rampup. Production was 3.0 Mt higher than in 3Q16 due to the S11D start-up in 4Q16 in the Northern System.

Vale’s pellet production also achieved a quarterly record (12.8 Mt) in 3Q17. The results were 4.5% and 5.8% higher than in 2Q17 and 3Q16, respectively, mainly due to higher productivity and a reduction in the number of scheduled maintenance stoppages.

Nickel

Production of nickel achieved 72,700 t in 3Q17, 10.2% higher than in 2Q17. Sudbury furnace #2 returning to production in July, strong production performance in Thompson and the steady performance at Onça Puma are the factors that might explain the results.

Coal

Vale also got a record for a quarter regarding coal production, which reached 3.2 Mt in 3Q17, with production coming exclusively from the Moatize mine in Mozambique. Total coal production was 5.8% and 38.3% higher than in 2Q17 and 3Q16, respectively.

The production record resulted from the better performance of the two Coal Handling and Preparation Plants (CHPP1 and CHPP2), which increased production by 5% and 6%, respectively, compared to 2Q17. More specifically, CHPP2 reached a new monthly production record of 566 kt in July, as a result of its continuing ramp-up.

Copper

Copper production reached 116,900 t in 3Q17, 16.0% higher than in 2Q17 and 7.0% higher than in 3Q16, as a result of the record quarterly production in Salobo and higher production in Sudbury, as it returned to regular operation after a scheduled maintenance shutdown in 2Q17.