Vale reported iron ore production of 82.47 million tonnes in the December quarter, which was down 2% year-on-year and 8% weaker than in the July-September period. That took full-year production to 315.6Mt, which was up 5% from 2020.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Tyler Broda said the quarterly production came in 3% below RBC's estimate and was 4% weaker than consensus forecasts.
The weaker-than-expected production saw Vale just miss out on the title of world's biggest iron ore producer. Rio Tinto retained pole position: its Western Australian Pilbara assets produced 84.1Mt in fourth quarter and 319.7Mt in 2021.
Vale's iron ore sales for the three months, meanwhile, were 83.15Mt, which was up marginally from 82.83Mt the same time a year earlier, 23% higher than the September quarter, and well above estimates.
"Despite indications that material had been held back because of discounts for higher silica products rising in the weak pricing environment, Vale's inventories actually drew down, driving what ended up as a record sales figure," Broda said.
The sales beat RBC's estimate by 21% and consensus by 8%.
The Brazilian miner said that heavy rains earlier this year resulted in about 2Mt of lost iron ore production, but it maintained its 2022 guidance range of 320Mt-335Mt - which is level with Rio Tinto's iron ore shipment guidance.
Vale ended 2021 with 340Mt/year of iron ore production capacity and expected that to climb to 370Mt by the end of the current year.
Vale's pellets production was 9.07Mt in the fourth quarter, having risen 28% year-on-year and 9% quarter-on-quarter. Guidance for 2022 stood at 34Mt-38Mt.
The company's nickel production for the three months was 48,000t, having dropped 6% year-on-year and risen 59% from the September quarter, while 2022 guidance was 175t-190t.
Copper production was recorded by Vale for the fourth quarter at 77,500t, which was down 17% year-on-year and up 12% quarter-on-quarter. Guidance for 2022 was 330,000t-355,000t.
Production of metals by-products was 29,000t, which was down 49% year-on-year and up 26% quarter-on-quarter.
On February 10, Vale traded on the New York Stock Exchange at US$17.85/share, which was up 2% day-on-day.
