By Jeffrey T. Lewis

 

SAO PAULO--Brazilian mining giant Vale SA (VALE3.BR) said Monday that production in the second quarter increased as production at its mammoth S11D mine in northern Brazil continued to rise.

The company, the world's biggest iron ore producer, said output of the ore reached 96.8 million metric tons in the quarter, an increase of 18.1% compared with the first quarter, and a rise of 5.3% from the second quarter of 2017.

Vale maintained its guidance for iron ore production in 2018 at around 390 million tons.

Production of pellets, which have a higher concentration of iron, reached 12.8 million tons in the second quarter, up 0.5% from the first quarter and up 5.1% from the second quarter a year earlier.

Vale has said it is scaling down output of lower grade iron ores and focusing on higher-grade products, including pellets, which command higher prices and help boost revenue.

The company said output of nickel reached 66.2 million metric tons in the second quarter, an increase of 13% from the first quarter and up 0.3% from the second quarter of 2017, while production of cobalt fell 1.9% from the first quarter to 1.3 million tons. Cobalt output fell 7.8% from the second quarter of 2017.

 

Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 16, 2018 08:06 ET (12:06 GMT)

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