Brazilian miner and iron ore producer Vale will maintain its iron ore inventory at a certain limit, despite concerns that coronavirus might reduce China’s economy growth in Q1, a media report from Valor said.
Vale’s iron ore “refilling” policy will continue, as the coronavirus has not had any negative impact in terms of sales for the company’s product at Chinese ports. Valor said Vale is interested in selling a specific grade of iron ore, known as BRBF, which is a blend of the company’s Carajas-produced iron ore with intermediate quality ores. The blend is made at Vale’s port terminals in Malaysia and China.
Market analysts said Vale sold more iron ore in 2019 than it actually produced, given the existing inventories it had. The media report estimated Vale had to use 14 million mt of its existing iron ore inventories to supply clients in 2019, which would indicate the company should probably maintain Chinese iron ore inventory.