Iron ore exports rise in February despite Vale disaster

According to Secex data, Brazil’s average daily shipments of iron ore rose by 7.8% to 1.4m tons per business day for the month to February 22, year-on-year. This is a total of 22.8m tons over 16 business days, despite Vale SA halting several of its operations following January’s disaster at Brumadinho. Secex data shows that exports slowed slightly from January when the daily average iron ore export stood at 1.5m tons.

Brazil’s National Mining Agency passed a new regulation on February 15 which prohibits all tailings dams built with the upstream method. Companies have six months to produce a decommissioning project and must conclude deactivation of inactive dams by August 15 2021, and active dams by August 15 2023. According to consultancy firm, Wood Mackenzie, out of the total 226 iron ore tailings dams in the country, 35 dams are potentially affected by the new regulation.

Vale looks set to lose 20m tons from decommissioning dams, and a further 30m tons from the Brucutu mine’s shut down, according to Wood Mac. In a nutshell, Vale faces a 50m tons loss as the new law sets in. On the other hand, Vale’s competitor and Brazil’s second-largest iron ore exporter, CSN (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional) is likely to have production unharmed.

Vale SA’s fate is further jeopardized as Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) and port company Porto Sudeste have formally lodged complaints to antitrust regulator Cade against Vale’s proposed acquisition of Ferrous Resources Ltd, earlier this month.

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