Vale, the Brazilian miner, said it maintained a "positive" long-term outlook for iron ore and nickel prices, based on better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
"We remain positive on the outlook for iron ore given the recovery in the global economy," Vale said in late November after iron ore prices plunged on oversupply concerns and weak steel demand. They have since recouped some of their losses.
The company, once the world's largest producer of raw materials for steel, said its fourth-quarter net income nearly doubled to 5.4bn. The company said the increase was mainly due to the impact of the reclassification of accumulated foreign exchange gains.
Lợi nhuận tài chính được bù đắp một phần bởi chi phí cao hơn liên quan đến thảm họa đập Brumadinho, chẳng hạn như 1,7 tỷ bổ sung được phân bổ cho DAMS ở thượng nguồn.
Vale's earnings were hurt by a fall in iron ore prices last year, but nickel has been rising for the past few years and the miner is betting that demand for the metal used in electric cars will continue to grow.
Sự tăng trưởng này sẽ mang lại lợi ích cho hóa học pin niken - cao vì mật độ năng lượng cao hơn, một động lực mà chuỗi cung ứng Bắc Mỹ đặc biệt phụ thuộc vào.
