Vale, a Brazilian miner, has decided to stop mining at the Fazendao iron ore mine in Minas Gerais, as the licensed resources at the mine have now been exhausted and it is no longer possible to mine iron ore at the mine. The Fazendao mine is part of the Mariana plant in the southeast of Vale. The Mariana plant produced 11.296 million metric tons of iron ore in 2019, a sharp drop of 57.6% compared to 2018. Market participants speculate that the mine, as part of the Mariana plant, has an annual production capacity of about 1 million to 2 million tons.

Vale said it will seek to expand new mines that have not yet been licensed, and reallocate mine staff based on operational needs. But market sources said Vale's application for an extended permit was rejected by local authorities in Catas Altas in late February.

Vale said it will hold a public hearing in the near future to introduce the project to expand operations for other mines that have not yet been licensed.

A Chinese trader said the weak sales at the Mariana plant have prompted Vale to shift its supply to other mines, so the shutdown is unlikely to have a big impact.

Another Chinese trader said: "The mines may have been out of production for some time, and Malaysia's reserves can act as a buffer before we see any disruption in BRBF shipments."

The export data seen by Platts Energy Information shows that from February 24 to March 1, the export of iron ore at the port of Tubarao in southern Brazil was about 1.61 million tons, the highest weekly export volume so far in 2020 The reason is that the weather conditions in the monsoon season are better than in previous years.