Vale’s iron ore production rises 3% in 2025, surpassing Rio Tinto’s Pilbara

Iron ore production of Brazilian miner Vale rose to 336.1 million metric tons in 2025, the company posted on Tuesday, marking the first time since 2018 that Vale’s output surpasses that of rival Rio Tinto’s Pilbara operations.

Vale production rose 2.6% last year from 2024, compared to the company’s latest projection made in December of around 335 million metric tons. In the fourth quarter of 2025, output stood at 90.4 million tons, up 6% year-on-year.

Vale lost the position of world’s largest iron ore producer in 2019 to Anglo-Australian rival Rio Tinto, following the collapse of a dam in the Brazilian city of Brumadinho, which killed over 250 people and triggered a safety review of the firm’s projects.

However, Vale has been scaling up its iron ore production in the last few years, and in 2025 saw its highest output since 2018. Chief executive Gustavo Pimenta has said the firm is aiming to regain the title of world’s largest iron ore producer.

Rio Tinto reported last week a 2025 iron ore production of 327.3 million metric tons, extracted in its entirety from its Pilbara mine – its flagship production site for the steelmaking material. When including its Canadian operations, total iron ore output reached 336.6 million tons.

Vale said its iron ore sales rose 2.5% in 2025, to 314.4 million tons.

(By Andre Romani and Roberto Samora; Editing by Iñigo Alexander)