Good prices boost 2021 results for Brazil’s mining industry

Brazil’s mining output set a new record in 2021 at an estimated R$ 339.1 billion (about US$ 63 billion), up no less than 62.2 percent in the year. The main impulse came from the good prices paid for iron ore, gold, and copper, the three leading products in value terms. Iron ore alone accounted for 73.6 percent of the total, with sales of R$ 249.8 billion. Gold came second with about 8 percent (R$ 27.0 billion), while copper reported a 5.2 percent share with R$ 17.8 billion.

Leaving aside mineral water, which contributed R$ 3.99 billion or just over 1 percent of the year’s total, the Brazilian mining industry’s main products in 2021, in addition to iron ore, gold, and copper, were dolomitic limestone (R$ 6.15 billion or 1.80 percent of the total), bauxite or aluminium ore (R$ 5.24 billion or 1.54 percent), granite (R$ 4.17 billion or 1.23 percent), phosphate (R$ 2.61 billion or 0.77 percent), sand (R$ 2.45 billion or 0.72 percent), nickel ore (R$ 2.43 billion or 0.71 percent), and basalt (R$ 1.95 billion or 0.57 percent).

With this high value of the year’s output, revenues from the Financial Compensation for the Exploitation of Mineral Resources (CFEM) rose to R$ 10.29 billion, up 68.9 percent in the year and setting a new record. The mineral products providing the largest shares of revenue were iron ore with R$ 8.7 billion, about 84.5 percent of the total, followed by gold with R$ 410 million or 4.0 percent; copper with R$ 354 million or 3.4 percent; dolomitic limestone with R$ 132.6 million or 1.3 percent; aluminium ore with R$ 156.5 million or 1.5 percent; phosphate with R$ 54 million or 0.52 percent; nickel ore with R$ 48.7 million or 0.47 percent; granite with R$ 44 million or 0.42 percent; tin ore with R$ 36.7 million or 0.35 percent; and sand with R$ 30.2 million or 0.29 percent.

In terms of geographical distribution, the northern state of Pará was in first place, contributing R$ 4.81 billion to overall CFEM revenue, followed by Minas Gerais with R$ 4.60 billion, Bahia with R$ 175.1 million, Goiás with R$ 166.6 million, and Mato Grosso with R$ 102.3 million.

Read the whole article on Brazil Mineral Special Issue 2022