Weather Affects Vale's Shipments in Australia and Brazil

The rains in Australia and Brazil have played havoc with shipments for mining giant Vale with 600,000 tonnes of iron ore being delayed from Brazil and 500,000 tonnes of coal being delayed from Australia.

The company director of investor relations Roberto Castello Branco said that the delayed shipments should be made up over the next couple of months.

He also said that the iron ore shipments that were delayed were a small portion of the company’s expected production this year of 311 million tonnes. As for the coal delays they were more significant. The company is expected to produce about 5 million tonnes of coal in Australia in 2011 and the delay in shipping out the 500,000 tonnes of coal from Australia would have more of an impact on operations.

While the Australian floods had caught a number of mining companies unawares Vale had prepared contingency plans to ensure that the rains would only have a limited effect on the shipments. The heavy rains in Brazil which caused floods and killed hundreds of people also slowed down the port operations in areas.