Vale S.A, the world's leading iron ore producer and second-largest nickel producer, has seen a 42 per cent drop in its net income between the first and second quarters of 2009, blaming in part rising costs and the weakning of the US dollar.
Vale, which also produces coal, PGMs and aluminum, saw net earnings drop to $790 million US in Q2, down from $1.36 billion in the first quarter, according to a report released July 30. This also represents an 84 per cent drop from the same period a year prior, which saw net earnings of $5 billion.
Despite these lower numbers, nickel still stands as one of the company's largest generators of revenue. While iron ore represents 47.7 of Vale's operating revenue, nickel stands at 18 per cent, or $916 million.
This is up from the first quarter of 2009, where nickel revenues stood at $639 million, or 11.8 per cent of Vale's operating revenue.
Nickel revenues from both quarters are drastically down from the pre-recessionary second quarter of 2008, where nickel represented $1.8 billion, or 17.2 per cent of total operating revenue.
In its quarterly production report, Vale also indicated total finished nickel production dropped to 59,000 tons in Q2. This is down from 69,000 tons in the second quarter of 2008, and 65,200 tons in the first quarter of 2009.
Read the full story at: http://www.northernontariobusiness.com/Industry-News/mining/Vale-reports-42-per-cent-drop-in-net-income856.aspx
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