Vale S. A. (VALE)

[JohnCM]

"Meanwhile, Vale produced 320 million tons of iron ore during 2012, from which it generated $27.2 billion, 56% of total revenue. This indicates that the company sold its production for around $85 per ton, significantly lower than BHP. That said, we should keep in mind that the iron ore price was, on average much lower during 2012 than the first half of this year. Although Vale does not give detailed income figures on a divisional basis like BHP, Vale's annual report does show that the operating margin on ores produced was 49%. As iron ore accounted for 65% of the company's ores produced during 2012, we can assume that Vale's production cost per ton of iron ore produced was around $41.70 during 2012."