CBMM, Echion open world’s largest niobium anode production plant in Brazil
Facility is apable of producing 2,000 tons per year of XNO, equivalent to 1 GWh of lithium-ion cells.
Vale SA said on Monday that its second-quarter iron ore production totalled 67.6 million tonnes, up 5.5% from a year earlier and 13.4% higher than the first quarter, despite the impact of the novel coronavirus.
Vale said it was keeping its full-year outlook for iron ore fines production unchanged at 310-330 million tonnes but emphasized that the most probable scenario was for output to be at the lower end of that range.
Vale has been trying to recover output since a tailings dam in the town of Brumadinho burst early last year
The result comes soon after iron ore prices surged to their highest level in almost a year last week, above $111 a ton, amid a shortage of world supply as China reopens its economy. China has been boosting imports for the key steel ingredient.
Vale’s key northern Brazilian mine S11D reached a annualized “run-rate” of 91 million tonnes in June, likely to improve further in the second half, pushing annual production slightly above 85 million tonnes, it said.
Nevertheless, a negative impact on production from the coronavirus of 3.5 million tonnes offset much of the improvements in the north.
Vale has been trying to recover output since a tailings dam in the town of Brumadinho burst early last year, killing some 270 people and forcing many similar structures to be shut down.
(By Sabrina Valle; Editing by Christian Plumb and Himani Sarkar)
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