Vale, a Brazilian miner, has decided to stop mining fazendao iron ore in Minas Gerais because its licensed resources are now exhausted and it is not possible to continue mining at the mine. The fazendao mine is part of the Mariana plant in the southeast of vale, which produced 11.296 million metric tons of iron ore in 2019, down 57.6% from 2018. Market participants speculate that as part of the Mariana plant, the annual production capacity of the mine is about 1 million to 2 million tons.
Vale said it would seek to expand new mines that have not yet been licensed and reassign mine staff based on operational needs. But market participants said Vale's application for an extension was rejected by local authorities in late February at CATAS Altas.
Vale said it would hold a public hearing on the project in the near future to expand the operation of other mines that have not yet been licensed.
Weak sales at the Mariana plant have prompted vale to shift supply to other mines, so the shutdown is unlikely to have a significant impact, a Chinese trader said.
Another Chinese trader said: "the mining area may have been shut down for some time, and Malaysia's reserves can serve as a buffer until we see any disruption in BRBF shipments."
According to the export data from Platts energy information, from February 24 to March 1, the iron ore export volume of the port of tubarang in southern Brazil is about 1.16 million tons, the highest weekly export volume so far in 2020, because the weather conditions in monsoon season are better than those in previous years.
