SAO PAULO/RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian miner Vale  reported on April 16 its highest iron-ore sales for a first quarter since 2018, while also announcing the suspension of pellet operations in Oman amid the war in the Middle East.

The company's iron-ore sales, which include fines, pellets and run-of-mine, grew by 3.9% to 68.7-million tons in the quarter ended March 31, compared with the same quarter last year.

Vale, one of the world's largest iron-ore producers, said sales grew in line with output. A 5.5-million-ton inventory drawdown mainly reflected in-transit inventories after higher production in the second half of 2025, it said.

The average realized price for iron-ore fines rose 5.5% to $95.8/t, it said.

"Vale's first-quarter production and sales figures were relatively in line with our expectations, driving a marginal upward tweak to our first-quarter proforma earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation estimate," analysts at Latin American bank Itau BBA wrote.

Vale said it halted production at its pellet plant in Oman in mid-March for scheduled annual maintenance and also suspended construction at the Sohar concentration plant in the country.

The company said its Oman operations are expected to resume at the end of the third quarter "owing to developments related to the conflicts in the Middle East."

In the meantime, pellet feed originally allocated to Oman will be redirected to the Tubarao plants in Brazil to be sold as fines. Vale kept its full-year pellet production guidance unchanged at 30 million to 34 million tons.

PRODUCTION BOOSTED BY SOUTHEAST BRAZIL

Vale produced 69.6-million tons of iron-ore in the quarter, a tick above a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 69.4-million tons and a 3% rise year-on-year.

Higher production in southeastern Brazil offset a decline in northern Brazil, Vale's main iron ore producing region, the report showed.

The firm, which is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings on April 28, also held its 2026 iron-ore production guidance that was set at between 335-million and 345-million tons.

COPPER, NICKEL OUTPUT RISE OVER 12%

In base metals, Vale reported a 12.5% increase in copper production to about 102 300 t, driven by its Salobo and Sossego operations in Brazil, despite lower output from its Canadian mines.

Nickel production rose 12.3% to about 49 300 t, boosted by the second furnace at the Onca Puma mine in Brazil. Vale said stable operations at the Voisey's Bay underground mine in Canada also supported a first-quarter production record at the Long Harbour refinery.