[Ferro-Alloys.com]The world’s mining giant Vale said that its net profits for the third quarter slumped by 66%, lower than the estimates made by analysts and touching the lowest level over the past three years.

In the third quarter, Vale’s sales volumes of iron ore increased to 78.20 million tons from 75.20 million in a quarter ago; however, the increased sales volumes did not compensate the losses caused by slumped iron ore prices.

Vale’s selling prices of iron ore in the third quarter averaged at USD83.69/ton in the third quarter, slumping by 45% year on year and decreasing by 20% from a quarter ago.