RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian mining giant Vale S.A., the world’s largest producer and exporter of iron ores, announced that it recorded losses of 2.117 billion U.S. dollars despite record production in the third quarter here the other day.
The losses were 47.3 percent higher than those recorded for the same period last year, said the company in a press release, blaming the devaluation of the Brazilian real against the U.S. dollar and the continued fall of metal prices on international market for the losses incurred.
The third-quarter losses stood in sharp contrast with the 1.675 billion U.S. dollar profits Vale made in the second quarter of this year after three previous quarters of back-to-back losses.
Vale produced 248 million tons of iron ores in the first nine months of the year, 5 percent higher than in the same period of last year, of which 88.2 million tons of iron ores were produced from July to September.
Vale’s revenue plummeted by 30.9 percent in the first nine months of the year year on year to reach 19.7 billion U.S. dollars due to the fall in prices of iron ores on the international market.
