Brazil-based miner Vale has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2012, reporting its first quarterly loss in 10 years.
In the fourth quarter of 2012, Vale registered a net loss of $2.65 billion, compared to a net profit of $4.67 billion in the same period of the previous year, due to impairment on assets, impairment on investments and losses in asset sales. The company's sales revenues in the fourth quarter amounted to $11.72 billion, decreasing by 19 percent year on year. Vale saw an operating loss of $1.2 billion, compared to an operating profit of $6.02 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011.
For the full year 2012, Vale reported a net profit of $5.51 billion, up from $4.42 billion in the previous year. Vale's sales revenues decreased by 23 percent year on year to $45.4 billion. In 2012, the company's operating profit fell 70 percent to $9.22 billion compared to 2011.
According to Vale, the company's financial results were negatively affected by the adverse macroeconomic environment. Iron ore prices became much more volatile, particularly showing large downward volatility in the third quarter of the year.
The company's iron ore and pellet shipments in 2012 reached an all-time high of 303.4 million mt. In addition to the sales increase, Vale's iron ore marketing strategy based on the utilization of a global distribution network is contributing to the capture of greater value through higher sales prices.