A new pricing system for iron ore has helped increase Brazilian mining giant Vale's second-quarter net earnings to US$3.7 billion, up nearly fourfold from the same period the previous year.
During the quarter, China's share of Vale's revenues drop from 39.7 per cent one year ago to 28.1 per cent. Sales to Asia represented 48.2 per cent of total revenues, while sales to the Americas made up 23.2 per cent, and Europe made up 24 per cent.
Nickel sales created revenues of $820 million in the second quarter, up from $687 million the previous quarter.
The recently concluded year-long strike at Vale's Sudbury operations “negatively affected the performance of the base metals business in 2Q10,” according to the company's quarterly report, leading to shipments of 36,000 tons of finished nickel in that period.
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