Brazil’s Vale to avoid driving down global iron ore market – by Dominic Ellis (Mining Global – November 11, 2020)

https://www.miningglobal.com/

Brazilian miner Vale SA will place caution before capacity as it seeks to avoid driving down the iron ore market and presses forward with its recovery from a deadly dam break in 2019.

Speaking at an interview during the Reuters Commodity Trading Summit, Luciano Siani, chief financial officer for Vale, says that the miner is prepared to raise its capacity using safer and less polluting methods to 450 million tonnes in about five years – almost 50 percent more than forecast production for 2020.

“We are going to be responsible and we are not going to overflow the markets with iron ore,” he adds, asserting that the miner would not use full capacity if an expected surge in manufacturing-driven Asian demand does not materialise.

“The intent is not to oversupply the markets towards 450 (million tonnes). It is to have the capacity available to meet the market if the need be,” Siani explains.

As the only global iron ore miner with sizeable plans to expand capacity, Vale’s production decisions affect prices of steel products around the world.

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