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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Vale S.A. Financial Statements

Table of Contents

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 13, 2018

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 20-F

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2017
Commission file number: 001-15030

VALE S.A.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

Federative Republic of Brazil
(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

Luciano Siani Pires, Chief Financial Officer
phone: +55 21 3485 5000

Praia de Botafogo 186 – offices 701 – 1901 – Botafogo
22250-145 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
(Address of principal executive offices)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

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I.  OVERVIEW

Vale S.A. is a stock corporation, or sociedade por ações, that was organized on January 11, 1943 under the laws of the Federative Republic of Brazil for an unlimited period of time. Its head office is located at Praia de Botafogo 186 – offices 701-1901 – Botafogo, 22250-145 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, and its telephone number is 55-21-3485-5000.

In this report, references to "Vale" are to Vale S.A. References to "we," "us" or the "Company" are to Vale and, except where the context otherwise requires, its consolidated subsidiaries. References to our "ADSs" or "American Depositary Shares" are to our common American Depositary Shares (our "common ADSs"), each of which represents one common share of Vale. American Depositary Shares are represented by American Depositary Receipts ("ADRs") issued by the depositary.

Unless otherwise specified, we use metric units.

References to "real," "reais" or "R$" are to the official currency of Brazil, the real (singular) or reais (plural). References to "U.S. dollars" or "US$" are to United States dollars. References to "€" are to Euros.

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

SUMMARY

We are one of the largest metals and mining companies in the world, based on market capitalization. We are the world's largest producer of iron ore and iron ore pellets and the world's largest producer of nickel. We also produce manganese ore, ferroalloys, metallurgical and thermal coal, copper, platinum group metals (PGMs), gold, silver and cobalt. We are presently engaged in greenfield mineral exploration in six countries. We operate large logistics systems in Brazil and other regions of the world, including railroads, maritime terminals and ports, which are integrated with our mining operations. In addition, we have a distribution center to support the delivery of iron ore worldwide. Directly and through affiliates and joint ventures, we also have investments in energy and steel businesses.

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The following table presents the breakdown of total net operating revenues attributable to each of our lines of business with continuing operations.

Ferrous minerals:

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Iron ore and iron ore pellets.    We operate four systems in Brazil for producing and distributing iron ore, which we refer to as the Northern, Southeastern, Southern and Midwestern Systems. The Northern and the Southeastern Systems are fully integrated, consisting of mines, railroads, maritime terminals and a port. The Southern System consists of three mining complexes and two maritime terminals. We also have iron ore pellet operations in several locations, some of which are conducted through joint ventures. We currently operate nine pellet plants in Brazil and two in Oman. We also have a 50% stake in Samarco and 25% stakes in two pellet companies in China.



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Ferroalloys and manganese.    We conduct our manganese mining operations through Vale S.A. and subsidiaries in Brazil, and we produce several types of manganese ferroalloys through a wholly owned subsidiary in Brazil.

Base metals:

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Nickel.    Our principal nickel mines and processing operations are conducted by our wholly owned subsidiary Vale Canada Limited ("Vale Canada"), which has operations in Canada, Indonesia and New Caledonia. We also have nickel operations in Onça Puma, in the Brazilian state of Pará. We also own and operate, or have interests in, nickel refining facilities in the United Kingdom, Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan.



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Copper.    In Brazil, we produce copper concentrates at Sossego and Salobo, in Carajás, in the Brazilian state of Pará. In Canada, we produce copper concentrates, copper matte and

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copper cathodes in conjunction with our nickel mining operations at Sudbury and Voisey's Bay.

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Cobalt, PGMs and other precious metals.    We produce cobalt as a byproduct of our nickel mining and processing operations in Canada and refine it at our Port Colborne facilities, in the Province of Ontario, Canada. We began producing refined cobalt in our Long Harbour facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2017. We also produce cobalt as a byproduct of our nickel operations in New Caledonia. We produce PGMs as byproducts of our nickel mining and processing operations in Canada. The PGMs are concentrated at our Port Colborne facilities. We produce gold and silver as byproducts of our nickel mining and processing operations in Canada, and gold as a byproduct of our copper mining at Sossego and Salobo in Brazil.

Coal:

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We conduct our coal operations primarily in Mozambique, through Vale Moçambique S.A. ("Vale Moçambique"), where we are ramping up our metallurgical and thermal coal operations. We also have a minority interest in a Chinese coal producer.

Logistics infrastructure:

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We are a leading operator of logistics services in Brazil and other regions of the world, with railroads, maritime terminals, distribution centers and ports. Two of our four iron ore systems include an integrated railroad network linked to port and terminal facilities. We also have an interest in MRS Logística S.A. ("MRS"), which transports our iron ore products from the Southern System mines to our maritime terminals, and VLI S.A. ("VLI"), which provides integrated logistics solutions to general cargo through railroads, inland and maritime terminals in Brazil. We are ramping up the logistics infrastructure to support our coal operations in Southeastern Africa. We own and charter dry bulk vessels to transport the products that we sell on a cost and freight ("CFR") basis to customers.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

Our mission is to transform natural resources into prosperity and sustainable development. With this purpose, we are committed to:

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Sustainability;



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Improving our margins in the iron ore business;



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Preserving optionality in our nickel business and increasing production of our copper assets;



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Leveraging our mine and logistics in the coal business;



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Decreasing our net debt level to US$10 billion; and



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Enhancing corporate governance.

Below are the highlights of our major business strategies.

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Commitment to sustainability

We are committed to becoming a sustainability benchmark through a comprehensive approach based on systematic planning and execution, prioritizing risk and impact management (seeking to achieve zero harm to our employees and surrounding communities) and establishing a positive social, economic and environmental legacy in the places where we operate. Below is a list of measures illustrating our commitment to sustainability:

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Since 2013, environmental and social actions are directly incorporated into our strategic planning. In 2017, we joined the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the most important association in the mining industry, reaffirming our commitment to sustainable development. Also in 2017, we joined the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The purpose of the TCFD is to create a set of recommendations to improve the quality of voluntary disclosure of climate-related information.



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We are committed to reducing water use in our activities by investing in technologies and initiatives to control total water withdrawal, especially by promoting water reuse. In 2017, we withdrew a total of 276.3 billion liters of water, and used 179.5 billion liters in our operations (including discontinued operations), with the balance being allocated to third parties. From the total volume of water used in 2017, 83% or 148.9 billion liters was reused.



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We are committed to improving the health and safety of our workers. Our total recordable injury frequency performance in 2017 was 2.0 per million hours worked, slightly higher than the frequency of 1.89 per million hours worked recorded in the previous year, although demonstrating a 24% improvement over the last five years.



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We follow standards for social action in accordance with international guidelines, including principles on business and human rights, which are based on the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights of the United Nations Human Rights Council.



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In July 2016, we, together with Samarco and BHPB, established the Fundação Renova to develop and implement remediation and compensation programs over many years, in order to support the recovery of the areas and communities affected by the failure of Samarco's dam.

Improving our margins in the iron ore business

We are committed to improving our margins in the iron ore business by achieving better price realization, based on adjustments to our product portfolio according to market demand and supply chain optimization. We are focusing our product line to capture industry trends, improving quality and productivity, controlling costs, strengthening our logistics infrastructure of railroads, ports, shipping and distribution centers, and strengthening relationships with customers. Our diversified portfolio of high-quality products, strong technical marketing strategy, efficient logistics and long-standing relationships with major customers will help us achieve this goal.

In September 2017, Vale inaugurated the global Integrated Operations Center (IOC) at the Aguas Claras mine. The IOC brings together various functions in the iron ore supply chain to support improvements in the planning processes from mine to port, including optimization of ship distribution and response to client demands. These improvements to our operations and sales planning are expected to lead to better sales price realization and product quality management.

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We will continue to promote the Brazilian blend fines (BRBF), a product standard with silica (SiO2) content limited to 5%, offering strong performance in any kind of sintering operation. We produce BRBF by blending fines from Carajás, which contain a higher concentration of iron and a lower concentration of silica in the ore, with fines from the Southern and Southeastern Systems, which contain a lower concentration of iron in the ore. It is blended and sold in our Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal in Malaysia and in twelve distribution centers in China. This process reduces the time needed to reach Asian markets and increases our distribution capillarity by allowing the use of smaller vessels. The blending strategy also permits the use of iron ore with lower concentration, particularly from the Southern System, allowing more efficient mining plans and increasing the use of dry processing methods, which in turn reduce capital expenditures, extend the life of our mines and reduce the use of water in our operations.

Preserving optionality in our nickel business and increasing production of our copper assets

Our strategy for our nickel business is to preserve optionality. We are the world's largest nickel producer, with large-scale, long-life and low-cost operations, a substantial resource base and diversified mining operations that produce nickel from nickel sulfide and laterite sources using advanced technology. We are transitioning to a smaller footprint in our nickel business by calibrating investments and production to reflect current market conditions, such as the reduction of production volume at Voisey's Bay while a mine expansion project is being reassessed. In the long term, the battery segment shows important upside potential as electric vehicle production continues to attract significant investments, which could positively affect nickel price and our nickel premiums. We continue to optimize our operations and to review our asset utilization, aiming to increase productivity and improve returns.

A key aspect of our strategy for our copper assets in the Carajás region is to improve efficiency and asset utilization while we evaluate opportunities to extend our operations at Sossego and expand Salobo. These copper mines benefit from our infrastructure facilities serving the Northern System. The gold we produce at Sossego and Salobo increases the total aggregated value of those operations.

Leveraging our mine and logistics in the coal business

We have been increasing our coal production, mainly through the ramp-up of a new coal handling processing plant (CHPP) in the Moatize operations and the ramp-up of the Nacala Logistics Corridor (NLC) in Mozambique and Malawi, where we have entered into a strategic partnership with Mitsui. As we complete the ramp-up of our new CHPP in Moatize and the NLC, we expect our costs to diminish, enhancing the competitiveness of our coal operations.

Reducing net debt

Our goal is to reduce indebtedness to US$10 billion by the end of 2018, taking advantage of our cash flow generation. This level of net debt will enable us to withstand cycles in the mining business while maintaining a solid balance sheet and an investment-grade credit rating.

Enhancing corporate governance

Following the conversion of our class A preferred shares into common shares, in December 2017, we completed our listing on the Novo Mercado segment of the B3 exchange (formerly BM&FBovespa), the special listing segment of B3 for companies committed to the highest standards of corporate governance. Also in 2017, our shareholders elected two independent board members to the Board of Directors. We are committed to continuing to improve our corporate governance.

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REORGANIZATION OF OUR SHAREHOLDING STRUCTURE AND LISTING ON NOVO MERCADO

In 2017, we successfully completed a series of measures to simplify our shareholding structure and enhance our corporate governance. Below is a summary of these measures:

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In August 2017, we concluded a voluntary conversion of our class A preferred shares into common shares and the exchange of preferred American Depositary Shares into common American Depositary Shares. A total of 84.4% of the total outstanding class A preferred shares (including class A preferred shares underlying preferred American Depositary Shares) were converted into common shares (including common shares underlying common American Depositary Shares).



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In August 2017, we concluded the merger of our former controlling shareholder Valepar S.A. ("Valepar") into Vale, and the former shareholders of Valepar became direct shareholders of Vale.



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In August 2017, shareholders' amendments to our bylaws became effective to provide for: (i) at least 20% of our board of directors to be composed of independent directors; (ii) mandatory tender offer to all shareholders in case of sale of control, (iii) mandatory tender offer in case any shareholder or group of shareholders acquires common shares in an amount equal to or greater than 25% of our total common shares; (iv) any disputes between us and our shareholders to be resolved by arbitration before the B3 arbitration chamber.



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In October 2017, our shareholders approved the mandatory conversion of the remaining class A preferred shares into common shares, which was successfully completed in November 2017. Following the completion of the mandatory conversion, we no longer have class A preferred shares, and our capital stock is composed of common shares and the 12 golden shares owned by the Brazilian government.



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On December 22, 2017, we completed our listing on the Novo Mercado segment of the B3 exchange (formerly BM&FBovespa), the special listing segment of B3 for companies committed to the highest standards of corporate governance.

In August 2017, upon conclusion of the merger of Valepar into Vale, certain former shareholders of Valepar entered into a Shareholders' Agreement pursuant to which they undertake, among other things, to vote jointly on certain key matters. This Shareholders' Agreement is expected to expire in November 2020. See Share ownership and trading—Major shareholders.

SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN OUR BUSINESS

We summarize below major events related to our divestitures, acquisitions and other significant developments in our business since the beginning of 2017.

Dispositions and asset sales

We are always seeking to optimize the structure of our portfolio of businesses in order to achieve the most efficient allocation of capital. We summarize below our most significant dispositions since the beginning of 2017.

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Sale of Fertilizer Business—In January 2018, we completed the sale to The Mosaic Company ("Mosaic") of a substantial part of our fertilizer business, which includes (i) our phosphate assets in Brazil; (ii) our stake in the joint venture that operates the phosphate rock mine in Bayóvar, Peru; (iii) our potash assets located in Brazil; and (iv) our potash project based in Canada (Kronau). The contractual consideration was US$1.150 billion in cash (US$1.080 billion following customary working capital adjustments), and approximately 34.2 million shares of Mosaic's common stock, which corresponds to approximately 8.9% (on a post-issuance basis) of Mosaic's outstanding common stock. Subject to limited exceptions, the Mosaic shares to be issued to us cannot be transferred for two years following closing. We have the right to appoint two members of Mosaic's board of directors, one of whom must be independent, for so long as we hold at least 90% of the Mosaic shares received at closing, or one member of Mosaic's board for so long as we hold at least 50% of the Mosaic shares received at closing. We appointed Mr. Luciano Siani to Mosaic's board of directors, and will appoint another director at Mosaic's next annual shareholders' meeting.



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Sale of Cubatão assets—On November 17, 2017, we entered into a share purchase agreement with Yara International ASA to sell our wholly owned subsidiary, Vale Cubatão Fertilizantes Ltda., which owns and operates the nitrogen and phosphate assets located in Cubatão, Brazil. The purchase price is US$255 million to be paid in cash upon the closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2018. Consummation of the transaction is subject to the satisfaction of various conditions precedent, including the approval of the Brazilian antitrust authority (CADE).



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Sale of very large ore carriers—In August 2017 and in December 2017, we sold a total of four very large ore carriers of 400,000 deadweight tons ("DWT") for an aggregate amount of US$356 million to Bank of Communications Finance Leasing Co., Ltd. (Bocomm). With the completion of these sales, we no longer own any very large ore carriers of 400,000 DWT in our fleet. In addition, we also sold two floating transfer stations for an aggregate amount of US$35 million.



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Sale of Lubambe.—In December 2017, we sold our 50% interest in the joint venture that owned 80% of Lubambe copper mine, in Zambia, to EMR Capital Bidco (No.2C) Limited for US$42 million.

Partnership in coal assets in Mozambique

We have a partnership with Mitsui in coal assets in Mozambique. In March 2017, we completed the equity transaction with Mitsui, which consisted of: (i) the sale of 15% of our 95% stake in the Moatize coal mine, (ii) the sale of 50% of Vale's stake in the NLC and (iii) a long-term facility by Mitsui to NLC. We received US$690 million upon completion of the equity transaction in March 2017, and US$87 million in the first quarter of 2018 upon closing of the project financing described below.

In November 2017, the NLC entities entered into agreements for a project financing in the total amount of US$2.730 billion, as follows:

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US$1.030 billion provided by Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC);



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US$1.000 billion loan insured by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI), provided by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation; The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd; Mizuho Bank Limited; Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Limited; Nippon Life Insurance Company and Standard Chartered Bank;

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US$400 million loan insured by Export Credit Insurance of South Africa Limited (ECIC), provided by ABSA Bank Limited; Investec Bank Limited; Rand Merchant Bank and The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited;



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US$300 million provided by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The transaction closed in February 2018 and we received the proceeds of the project financing in March 2018. Vale received US$2.6 billion in proceeds, in repayment of certain shareholders loans provided for construction of NLC, net of certain commissions paid by NLC. The project financing will be repaid in 14 years with the proceeds obtained from the tariff charged by NLC in connection with its provision of coal transportation services and general cargo services.

Optimizing our base metals operations in Canada

We are optimizing our nickel operations across Canada, as part of an overall strategy to prioritize value over volume, reduce our atmospheric emissions and comply with local regulations. In 2018, we will phase out our smelting and refining activities in Thompson, where we will focus on nickel concentrate production. As a result, we will concentrate more of our refining and smelting activities in Sudbury, where we will focus on the production of copper concentrate, copper matte and refined nickel. In Long Harbour, we produce nickel rounds, copper cathode and cobalt rounds.

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Sudbury, Ontario—In the second half of 2017, we converted our two-furnace operation in Sudbury into a single furnace operation. As a result of this change, we expect to increase the proportion of production of copper concentrate to total copper production from the current rate of 66% in 2017 to close to 73% in 2018, maximizing the smelter capacity for nickel. In addition, we ceased production of copper anode and increased production of copper matte. By the end of 2018, we expect that about 15% of our copper production will be sold in the form of copper matte. We rebuilt one of the operational furnaces from March 2017 to June 2017, followed by the permanent shutdown of the other furnace. The rebuilt furnace had its capacity increased, but due to the single furnace operation, overall smelter production in the long term will decrease by approximately 30%.



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Thompson, Manitoba—We intend to change our operations in Thompson, Manitoba, from an integrated operation to a mine-mill operation. We permanently shut down one of the two smelter furnaces at the site in 2017, and we expect to decommission the other furnace in 2018, therefore closing the remaining smelting and refining activities to focus the operation solely on nickel concentrate production. We plan to send the majority of the feed from Thompson to be refined in Sudbury and Long Harbour.



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Voisey's Bay and Long Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador—In 2017, we shipped a greater proportion of Voisey's Bay nickel concentrate to our Long Harbour processing facility, reducing concentrate shipments to our Sudbury and Thompson operations. Starting in 2018, all Voisey's Bay nickel concentrate is being shipped to our Long Harbour refinery. Our Long Harbour processing facilities produce nickel rounds, copper cathode and cobalt rounds from the Voisey's Bay concentrate.

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Resumption of operations of São Luis and Tubarão I and II pellet plants

In January 2018, we resumed the operations of our Tubarão II pellet plant. We expect to resume operations at the Tubarão I and São Luis pellet plants in the second and third quarters of 2018. The operations of these plants had been suspended since 2012 due to market conditions.

FAILURE OF SAMARCO'S TAILINGS DAM IN MINAS GERAIS

Samarco's dam failure

In November 2015, the Fundão tailings dams owned by Samarco S.A. failed, releasing tailings downstream, flooding certain communities and causing impacts on communities and the environment along the Doce river. The failure resulted in 19 fatalities and caused property and environmental damage to the affected areas. Samarco is a joint venture equally owned by Vale S.A. and BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda. ("BHPB"), a Brazilian subsidiary of BHP Billiton plc.

Emergency actions

Immediately after the dam failure, Samarco, together with the public authorities, provided first aid, food, water, housing, social assistance and financial aid to the affected families and individuals. As Samarco's shareholders, we were actively involved in supporting Samarco during this period. In addition to these emergency actions, Samarco has been monitoring the affected area, performing emergency work to contain any movement of tailings, reinforcing the structures of its dams and dikes to ensure the safety of the region and mitigating the environmental and social impacts of the event.

Fundação Renova and the remediation process

In August 2016, Samarco and its shareholders (Vale and BHPB) created the Fundação Renova, a not-for-profit private foundation, to develop and implement (i) social and economic remediation and compensation programs and (ii) environmental remediation and compensation programs in the region affected by the dam collapse.

The social and economic remediation and compensation programs conducted by Fundação Renova include, among others:

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Registration of the impacted parties and assessment of the impact;



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Compensation and indemnification of the impacted parties;



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Resettlement of the communities of Bento Rodrigues, Paracatu de Baixo and Gesteira;



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Protection and recovery of life quality of impacted indigenous communities;



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Implementation of social and cultural activities and psychosocial support to people affected;



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Creation of permanent channels of communication and interaction with society;



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Recovery and reconstruction of houses, bridges and other damaged infrastructure;

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Recovery of schools and reintegration of school communities;



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Recovery of cultural property, leisure and sport areas and preservation of historical and cultural heritage;



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Development and implementation of programs to support agricultural and livestock farming, aquaculture, fishing, and other economic activities of the affected regions;



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Implementation of specific a program for the recovery of micro and small businesses;



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Development of emergency a financial aid program to the affected population.

The environmental remediation and compensation programs conducted by Fundação Renova include, among others:

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Implementation of tailings retention and treatment systems in impacted rivers;



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Recovery of vegetation, regularization of gutters and margins of impacted rivers and measures to control erosion;



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Recovery of permanent preservation areas and springs in the Doce River basin;



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Assessment of impacts on water quality and aquatic biodiversity, followed by actions for recovery and conservation of aquatic fauna;



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Construction and provision of resources for operational maintenance of wild animals screening and rehabilitation centers in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo;



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Collection and sewage treatment;



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Improvement of water supply systems;



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Implementation of plans for emergency alert and support;



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Development of a permanent water and sediments monitoring program in the Doce River basin and in the sea area near the river's mouth.

The creation of Fundação Renova was provided for under the Agreement of Transaction and Conduct Adjustment (TTAC or Framework Agreement) signed in March 2016 by Vale, BHPB, Samarco, the Brazilian federal government, the two Brazilian states affected by the failure (Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais) and other governmental authorities. The Framework Agreement has a 15-year term, renewable for successive one-year periods until all the obligations under the Framework Agreement have been performed. The Framework Agreement does not provide for admission of civil, criminal or administrative liability for the Fundão dam failure. In January 2017, Samarco, Vale and BHPB entered into two preliminary agreements with the federal prosecution office (the "MPF") providing for, among other things, the appointment of experts selected by the MPF to review and monitor the remediation programs provided under the Framework Agreement. The preliminary agreements contemplate a potential revision in the remediation programs provided under the Framework Agreement, based on the findings of the experts selected by the MPF.

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Under the Framework Agreement, Fundação Renova must be funded by Samarco. As Samarco is currently unable to resume its activities, we and BHPB have been funding the foundation and also providing funds directly to Samarco, to preserve its operations and to support Samarco's funding obligations. Samarco's funding obligations to Fundação Renova, pursuant to the Framework Agreement, are summarized below:

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R$2.0 billion in 2016;



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R$1.2 billion in 2017;



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R$1.2 billion in 2018;



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From 2019 to 2021, Samarco will provide funding based on the amounts needed to implement the projects approved for each year, subject to an annual minimum of R$800 million and an annual maximum of R$1.6 billion; and



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Starting in 2022, Samarco will provide the necessary funding in order to complete remaining programs approved for each year.

Fundação Renova must allocate a minimum annual amount of R$240 million over 15 years to the implementation of compensation programs; these annual amounts are included in the annual contributions described above for the first six years.

Under the terms of the Framework Agreement, Fundação Renova must spend R$500 million on sewage collection and treatment and solid waste disposal through the end of 2018.

Fundação Renova and Samarco allocated R$1.7 billion to remediation and compensation programs in 2017, and have allocated R$3.2 billion to these programs since their creation.

Impact of dam failure on Samarco's operations

Following the dam failure, governmental authorities ordered the suspension of Samarco's operations. Samarco's management is working on a plan that would permit it to obtain the necessary licenses and approvals to resume operations and provide a long-term solution for the disposal of tailings. The feasibility, timing and scope of measures necessary to resume Samarco's operations remain uncertain. With the exception of the Fundão tailings dam and the Santarém water dam, which was impacted by the overflow of tailings from the Fundão dam, all other production assets owned by Samarco were undamaged.

Impact of the failure of Samarco's tailings dam in our financial statements

For a discussion of the impact of the failure of Samarco's tailings dam in our financial statements, see Operating and financial review and prospects—Failure of Samarco's tailing dams.

Legal proceedings

For a discussion of the legal proceedings resulting from the failure of Samarco's tailings dam, see Additional information—Legal proceedings.

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SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The tables below present selected consolidated financial information as of and for the periods indicated. You should read this information together with our consolidated financial statements in this annual report.

Consolidated statement of income data

Earnings (loss) per share

The table below shows our earnings (loss) per share. The earnings (loss) per share for 2013 to 2016 have been retrospectively adjusted to reflect the conversion of our Class A preferred shares into common shares, which was concluded in November 2017, as if the conversion had occurred at the beginning of the earliest year presented.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report contains statements that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Many of those forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "expect," "should," "plan," "intend," "estimate" and "potential," among others. Those statements appear in a number of places and include statements regarding our intent, belief or current expectations with respect to:

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our direction and future operation;



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the implementation of our principal operating strategies, including our potential participation in acquisition, divestiture or joint venture transactions or other investment opportunities;



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the implementation of our financing strategy and capital expenditure plans;



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the exploration of mineral reserves and development of mining facilities;



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the depletion and exhaustion of mines and mineral reserves;



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trends in commodity prices, supply and demand for commodities;



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the future impact of competition and regulation;



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the payment of dividends or interest on shareholders' equity;



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compliance with financial covenants;



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industry trends, including the direction of prices and expected levels of supply and demand;



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the outcome of the various regulatory, governmental and legal proceedings in which we are involved;



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other factors or trends affecting our financial condition or results of operations; and



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the factors discussed under Risk factors.

We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. These risks and uncertainties include factors relating to (a) economic, political and social issues in the countries in which we operate, (b) the global economy, (c) commodity prices, (d) financial and capital markets, (e) the mining and metals businesses, which are cyclical in nature, and their dependence upon global industrial production, which is also cyclical, (f) regulation and taxation, (g) operational incidents or accidents, and (h) the high degree of global competition in the markets in which we operate. For additional information on factors that could cause our actual results to differ from expectations reflected in forward-looking statements, see Risk factors. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information or future developments. All forward-looking statements attributed to us or a person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, and you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement.

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RISK FACTORS

EXTERNAL RISKS

Our business is exposed to the cyclicality of global economic activity and requires significant investments of capital.

As a mining company, we are a supplier of industrial raw materials. Industrial production tends to be the most cyclical and volatile component of global economic activity, which affects demand for minerals and metals. At the same time, investment in mining requires a substantial amount of funds in order to replenish reserves, expand and maintain production capacity, build infrastructure, preserve the environment and minimize social impacts. Sensitivity to industrial production, together with the need for significant long-term capital investments, are important sources of risk for our financial performance and growth prospects.

Also, we may not be able to adjust production volume in a timely or cost-efficient manner in response to changes in demand. Lower utilization of capacity during periods of weak demand may expose us to higher unit production costs since a significant portion of our cost structure is fixed in the short-term due to the capital intensity of mining operations. In addition, efforts to reduce costs during periods of weak demand could be limited by labor regulations or previous labor or government agreements. Conversely, during periods of high demand, our ability to rapidly increase production capacity is limited, which could prevent us from meeting demand for our products. Moreover, we may be unable to complete expansions and greenfield projects in time to take advantage of rising demand for iron ore, nickel or other products. When demand exceeds our production capacity, we may meet excess customer demand by purchasing iron ore, iron ore pellets or nickel from joint ventures or unrelated parties and reselling it, which would increase our costs and narrow our operating margins. If we are unable to satisfy excess customer demand in this way, we may lose customers. In addition, operating close to full capacity may expose us to higher costs, including demurrage fees due to capacity restraints in our logistics systems.

The prices for our products are subject to volatility, which may adversely affect our business.

Global prices for metals are subject to significant fluctuations and are affected by many factors, including actual and expected global macroeconomic and political conditions, regional and sectorial factors, levels of supply and demand, the availability and cost of substitutes, inventory levels, technological developments, regulatory and international trade matters, investments by commodity funds and others and actions of participants in the commodity markets. Sustained low market prices for the products we sell may result in the suspension of certain of our projects and operations, decrease in our mineral reserves, impairment of assets, and may adversely affect our cash flows, financial position and results of operations.

Demand for our iron ore, coal and nickel products depends on global demand for steel. Iron ore and iron ore pellets, which together accounted for 71.2% of our 2017 net operating revenues, are used to produce carbon steel. Nickel, which accounted for 13.7% of our 2017 net operating revenues, is used mainly to produce stainless and alloy steels. The prices of different steels and the performance of the global steel industry are highly cyclical and volatile, and these business cycles in the steel industry affect demand and prices for our products. In addition, vertical backward integration of the steel and stainless steel industries and the use of scrap could reduce the global seaborne trade of iron ore and primary nickel. The demand for copper is affected by the demand for copper wire, and a sustained decline in the construction industry could have a negative impact on our copper business.

We are mostly affected by movements in iron ore prices. For example, a price reduction of US$1 per dry metric ton unit ("dmt") in the average iron ore price would have reduced our operating income for the year ended December 31, 2017 by approximately US$300 million. Average iron ore prices significantly

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changed in the last five years, from US$135 per dmt in 2013 to US$97 per dmt in 2014, US$55.5 per dmt in 2015, US$58.5 per dmt in 2016 and US$71.3 per dmt in 2017, according to the average Platts IODEX (62% Fe CFR China). On February 28, 2018, the year to date average Platts IODEX iron ore price was US$76.60 per dmt. See Operating and financial review and prospects—Overview—Major factors affecting prices.

Adverse economic developments in China could have a negative impact on our revenues, cash flow and profitability.

China has been the main driver of global demand for minerals and metals over the last few years. In 2017, Chinese demand represented 74% of global demand for seaborne iron ore, 55% of global demand for nickel and 48% of global demand for copper. The percentage of our net operating revenues attributable to sales to customers in China was 41.3% in 2017. Therefore, any contraction of China's economic growth could result in lower demand for our products, leading to lower revenues, cash flow and profitability. Poor performance in the Chinese real estate sector, the largest consumer of carbon steel in China, would also negatively impact our results.

Changes in exchange rates for the currencies in which we conduct operations could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

A substantial portion of our revenues, trade receivables and our debt is denominated in U.S. dollars, and given that our functional currency is the Brazilian real, changes in exchange rates may result in (i) losses or gains on our net U.S. dollar-denominated indebtedness and accounts receivable and (ii) fair value losses or gains on currency derivatives we use to stabilize our cash flow in U.S. dollars. In 2017, we had net foreign exchange losses of US$463 million, while we had net foreign exchange gains of US$3.252 billion in 2016 and net foreign exchange losses of US$7.044 billion in 2015. In addition, changing values of the Brazilian real, the Canadian dollar, the Australian dollar, the Euro, the Indonesian rupiah and other currencies against the U.S. dollar affects our results since most of our costs of goods sold is denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, principally the real (52% in 2017) and the Canadian dollar (12% in 2017), while our revenues are mostly U.S. dollar-denominated. We expect currency fluctuations to continue to affect our financial income, expense and cash flow generation.

Significant volatility in currency prices may also result in disruption of foreign exchange markets, which could limit our ability to transfer or to convert certain currencies into U.S. dollars and other currencies for the purpose of making timely payments of interest and principal on our indebtedness. The central banks and governments of the countries in which we operate may institute restrictive exchange rate policies in the future and impose taxes on foreign exchange transactions.

FINANCIAL RISKS

Lower cash flows, resulting from decreased prices of our products, may adversely affect our credit ratings and the cost and availability of financing.

Lower prices of our products may adversely affect our future cash flows, credit ratings and our ability to secure financing at attractive rates. It may also negatively affect our ability to fund our capital investments, provide the financial assurances required to obtain licenses in certain jurisdictions, pay dividends and comply with the financial covenants in some of our long-term debt instruments. See Operating and financial review and prospects—Liquidity and capital resources.

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We may not be able to implement our strategy with respect to divestments and strategic partnerships.

In the past few years, we have entered into agreements to dispose of assets and to make strategic partnerships, in order to optimize our business portfolio and implement our financing strategy and capital expenditure plans. We may continue to seek opportunities for divestments and strategic partnerships in the future. We are exposed to a number of risks in connection with these transactions, including imposition of regulatory conditions, inability to satisfy conditions for completion or for receipt of additional payments, and negative market reactions. If we are unable to complete our dispositions or strategic partnerships, we may have to revise our business and financing strategy and incur additional costs, which could in turn adversely affect our results of operations, financial conditions or reputation.

RISKS RELATING TO LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are involved in legal proceedings that could have a material adverse effect on our business in the event of unfavorable outcomes.

We are involved in legal proceedings in which adverse parties have sought injunctions to suspend certain of our operations or claimed substantial amounts, including several legal proceedings and investigations relating to the failure of Samarco's Fundão tailings dam. Although we are vigorously contesting them, the outcomes of these proceedings are uncertain and may materially and adversely affect our business, our liquidity and the value of the securities issued by us or our subsidiaries. See Additional information—Legal proceedings.

Our obligations and potential liabilities arising from the failure of a tailings dam owned by Samarco Mineração S.A. ("Samarco") in Minas Gerais could negatively impact our business, our financial conditions and our reputation.

In November 2015, the Fundão tailings dam owned by Samarco failed, causing environmental damage in the surrounding area. The failure of Samarco's tailings dam has adversely affected and will continue to affect our business, and the full impact is still uncertain and cannot be estimated. Below is a discussion of the main effects of the dam failure on our business.

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Legal proceedings.  We are involved in multiple legal proceedings and investigations relating to the failure of the Fundão tailings dam, and other proceedings and investigations may arise in the future. These proceedings include securities class actions in the United States against us and some of our officers, a criminal proceeding in Brazil, public civil actions brought by Brazilian authorities and multiple proceedings involving claims for significant amounts of damages and remediation measures. Adverse results in these proceedings may adversely impact our liquidity and our financial condition. See Additional information—Legal proceedings.



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Reparation obligations and other undertakings.  In March 2016, Samarco and its shareholders (Vale and BHPB) entered into the Framework Agreement with certain governmental authorities, pursuant to which Samarco, Vale and BHPB agreed to create a foundation (Fundação Renova) to develop and implement long-term remediation and compensation programs. In January 2017, Samarco, Vale and BHPB entered into two preliminary agreements with the MPF providing for, among other things, the appointment of experts selected by the MPF to review and monitor the remediation programs provided under the Framework Agreement, the provision of collateral to secure certain remediation obligations, and a timetable for negotiation of a final agreement. The preliminary

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agreements contemplate a potential revision in the remediation programs provided under the Framework Agreement, based on the findings of the experts selected by the MPF. As Samarco is currently unable to resume its activities, we and BHPB have been funding Fundação Renova and also providing funds directly to Samarco, to preserve its operations and to support certain remediation measures undertaken by Samarco. If Samarco is unable to resume operations or to generate sufficient cash flows to fund the remediation measures required under these agreements, we will be required to continue funding these remediation measures, which in turn may adversely affect our financial conditions and results of operations. See Business overview—Failure of Samarco's tailings dam in Minas Gerais.

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Risk of additional environmental damages.  Failure to contain the remaining tailings in Samarco's dams could cause additional environmental damages, additional impacts on our operations, and additional claims, fines and proceedings against Samarco and against us. Failure to contain the remaining tailings could also impact the feasibility and timing for the restart of Samarco's operations.



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Other impacts.  We may encounter delays in the receipt of environmental and other licenses for our tailings dams and other facilities, and Brazilian authorities may impose more stringent conditions in connection with the licensing process of our projects and operations. Also, as one of Samarco's shareholders, our reputation has been adversely affected by the failure of Samarco's tailings dam.

POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND REGULATORY RISKS

Political, economic and social conditions in the countries in which we have operations or projects could adversely impact our business.

Our financial performance may be negatively affected by regulatory, political, economic and social conditions in countries in which we have significant operations or projects. In many of these jurisdictions, we are exposed to various risks such as political instability, bribery, extortion, corruption, robbery, sabotage, kidnapping, civil strife, acts of war, guerilla activities, piracy in international shipping routes and terrorism. These issues may adversely affect the economic and other conditions under which we operate in ways that could have a materially negative effect on our business.

Political and economic instability in Brazil could adversely impact our business and the market price of our securities.

The Brazilian federal government's economic policies may have important effects on Brazilian companies, including us, and on market conditions and prices of securities of Brazilian companies. Our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by the following factors and the Brazilian federal government's response to these factors:

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exchange rate movements and volatility;



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inflation and high interest rates;



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financing of the current account deficit;



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liquidity of domestic capital and lending markets;

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tax policy;



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political instability resulting from allegations of corruption involving political parties, elected officials or other public officials; and



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other political, diplomatic, social and economic developments in or affecting Brazil.

Historically, the country's political situation has influenced the performance of the Brazilian economy, and political crises have affected the confidence of investors and the general public, which resulted in economic deceleration, downgrading of credit ratings of the Brazilian government and Brazilian issuers, and heightened volatility in the securities issued abroad by Brazilian companies. In August 2016, the Brazilian Congress approved the impeachment of the Brazilian president. Also, ongoing corruption investigations have led to charges against former and current public officials, members of several major political parties and directors and officers of many Brazilian companies. In addition, Brazil's next presidential and federal legislative election will be in October 2018. We cannot predict the outcome of these elections or whether the elections will result in changes in Brazilian governmental and economic policies or in the Brazilian mining industry. Political instability and the upcoming elections may aggravate economic uncertainties in Brazil and increase volatility of securities of Brazilian issuers.

In the last years, Brazil faced an economic recession, adverse fiscal developments and political instability. Brazilian GDP grew by 1.0% in 2017, but declined by 3.6% in 2016 and by 3.85% in 2015. Unemployment rate was 12.7% in 2017, 11.5% in 2016 and 6.9% in 2015. Inflation, as reported by the consumer price index (IPCA), was 2.95% in 2017, 6.29% in 2016 and 10.67% in 2015. The Brazilian Central Bank's base interest rate (SELIC) was 7.00% on December 31, 2017, 13.75% on December 31, 2016 and 14.25% on December 31, 2015. Future economic, social and political developments in Brazil may impair our business, financial condition or results of operations, or cause the market value of our securities to decline.

Disagreements with local communities in which we operate could adversely impact our business and reputation.

Disputes with communities where we operate may arise from time to time. In some instances, our operations and mineral reserves are located on or near lands owned or used by indigenous people or other groups of stakeholders. Some of our mining and other operations are located in territories where title may be subject to disputes or uncertainties, or in areas claimed for agriculture or land reform purposes, which may lead to disagreements with landowners, organized social movements, local communities and the government. In some jurisdictions, we may be required to consult and negotiate with these groups as part of the process to obtain licenses required to operate, to mitigate impact on our operations or to obtain access to their lands.

Disagreements or disputes with local groups, including indigenous groups, organized social movements and local communities, could cause delays in obtaining licenses, increases in planned budget, delays or interruptions to our operations. These issues may adversely affect our reputation or otherwise hamper our ability to develop our reserves and conduct our operations. Protesters have taken actions to disrupt our operations and projects, and they may continue to do so in the future, which may harm our operations and could adversely affect our business. See Information on the Company—Regulatory matters and Additional information—Legal proceedings.

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We could be adversely affected by changes in government policies or by trends such as resource nationalism, including the imposition of new taxes or royalties on mining activities.

Mining is subject to government regulation, including taxes and royalties, which can have a significant financial impact on our operations. In the countries where we are present, we are subject to potential renegotiation, nullification or forced modification of existing contracts and licenses, expropriation or nationalization of property, foreign exchange controls, changes in local laws, regulations and policies and audits and reassessments. We are also subject to new taxes or raising of existing taxes and royalty rates, reduction of tax exemptions and benefits, renegotiation of tax stabilization agreements or changes on the basis on which taxes are calculated in a manner that is unfavorable to us. Governments that have committed to provide a stable taxation or regulatory environment may alter those commitments or shorten their duration. We also face the risk of having to submit to the jurisdiction of a foreign court or arbitration panel or having to enforce a judgment against a sovereign nation within its own territory. See Information on the Company—Regulatory matters and Additional information—Royalties and other taxes on mining activities.

We are also required to meet domestic beneficiation requirements in certain countries, such as local processing rules, export taxes or restrictions or charges on unprocessed ores. The imposition of or increase in such requirements, taxes or charges can significantly increase the risk profile and costs of operations in those jurisdictions. We and the mining industry are subject to rising trends of resource nationalism in certain countries in which we operate that can result in constraints on our operations, increased taxation or even expropriations and nationalizations.

As a supplier of iron ore, nickel and other raw materials to the global integrated steel industry, we are subject to additional risk from the imposition of duties, tariffs, import and export controls and other trade barriers impacting our products and the products our customers produce. Global trade is subject to a growing trend of increased trade barriers, which could exacerbate commodities' price volatility and in turn result in instability in the prices of our products.

Concessions, authorizations, licenses and permits are subject to expiration, limitation on renewal and various other risks and uncertainties.

Our operations depend on authorizations and concessions from governmental regulatory agencies in the countries in which we operate. We are subject to laws and regulations in many jurisdictions that can change at any time, and changes in laws and regulations may require modifications to our technologies and operations and result in unanticipated capital expenditures.

Some of our mining concessions are subject to fixed expiration dates and might only be renewed a limited number of times for a limited period of time. Apart from mining concessions, we may need to obtain various authorizations, licenses and permits from governmental or other regulatory bodies in connection with the planning, maintenance, operation and closure of our mines and related logistics infrastructure, which may be subject to fixed expiration dates or periodic review or renewal. There is no assurance that renewals will be granted as and when sought, and there is no assurance that new conditions will not be imposed in connection with renewal. Fees for mining concessions might increase substantially due to the passage of time from the original issuance of each individual exploration license. If so, the costs of holding or renewing our mining concessions may render our business objectives not viable. Accordingly, we need to continually assess the mineral potential of each mining concession, particularly at the time of renewal, to determine if the costs of maintaining the concession are justified by the results of operations to date, and we might elect to let some of our concessions lapse. There can be no assurance that concessions will be obtained on terms favorable to us, or at all, for our future intended mining or exploration targets.

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In a number of jurisdictions where we have exploration projects, we may be required to retrocede to the state a certain portion of the area covered by the exploration license as a condition to renewing the license or obtaining a mining concession. This requirement can lead to a substantial loss of part of the mineral deposit originally identified in our feasibility studies. For more information on mining concessions and other similar rights, see Information on the Company—Regulatory matters.

OPERATIONAL RISKS

Our projects are subject to risks that may result in increased costs or delay in their implementation.

We are investing to maintain and further increase our production capacity and logistics capabilities. We regularly review the economic viability of our projects. As a result of this review, we may decide to postpone, suspend or interrupt the implementation of certain projects. Our projects are also subject to a number of risks that may adversely affect our growth prospects and profitability, including the following:

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We may not be able to obtain financing at attractive rates.



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We may encounter delays or higher than expected costs in obtaining the necessary equipment or services and in implementing new technologies to build and operate a project.



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Our efforts to develop projects on schedule may be hampered by a lack of infrastructure, including reliable telecommunications services and power supply.



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Suppliers and contractors may fail to meet their contractual obligations to us.



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We may face unexpected weather conditions or other force majeure events.



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We may fail to obtain or renew the required permits and licenses to build a project, or we may experience delays or higher than expected costs in obtaining or renewing them.



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Changes in market conditions or regulations may make a project less profitable than expected at the time we initiated work on it.



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There may be accidents or incidents during project implementation.



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We may face shortages of skilled personnel.

Operational problems could materially and adversely affect our business and financial performance.

Ineffective project management and operational breakdowns might require us to suspend or curtail operations, which could generally reduce our productivity. Operational breakdowns could entail failure of critical plant and machinery. There can be no assurance that ineffective project management or other operational problems will not occur. Any damages to our projects or delays in our operations caused by ineffective project management or operational breakdowns could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. Our business is subject to a number of operational risks that may adversely affect our results of operations, such as:

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Unexpected weather conditions or other force majeure events.

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Adverse mining conditions delaying or hampering our ability to produce the expected quantity of minerals and to meet specifications required by customers, which can trigger price adjustments.



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Accidents or incidents involving our mines, industrial facilities and related infrastructure, such as dams, plants, railway and railway bridges, ports and ships.



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Delays or interruptions in the transportation of our products, including with railroads, ports and ships.



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Tropical diseases, HIV/AIDS and other contagious diseases in regions where some of our operations or projects are located, which pose health and safety risks to our employees.



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Labor disputes that may disrupt our operations from time to time.



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Changes in market conditions or regulations may affect the economic prospects of an operation and make it inconsistent with our business strategy.



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Failure to obtain the renewal of required permits and licenses, or delays or higher than expected costs in obtaining them.



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Disruptions to or unavailability of critical information technology systems or services resulting from accidents or malicious acts.

Our business could be adversely affected by the failure of our counterparties, joint venture partners or joint ventures we do not control to perform their obligations.

Customers, suppliers, contractors, financial institutions, joint venture partners and other counterparties may fail to perform existing contracts and obligations, which may unfavorably impact our operations and financial results. The ability of suppliers and customers to perform their obligations may be adversely affected in times of financial stress and economic downturn.

Important parts of our iron ore, pelletizing, nickel, coal, copper, energy and other businesses are held through joint ventures. This may reduce our degree of control, as well as our ability to identify and manage risks. Our forecasts and plans for these joint ventures and consortia assume that our partners will observe their obligations to make capital contributions, purchase products and, in some cases, provide skilled and competent managerial personnel. If any of our partners fails to observe its commitments, the affected joint venture or consortium may not be able to operate in accordance with its business plans, or we may have to increase the level of our investment to implement these plans.

Some of our investments are controlled by partners or have separate and independent management. These investments may not fully comply with our standards, controls and procedures, including our health, safety, environment and community standards. Failure by any of our partners or joint ventures to adopt adequate standards, controls and procedures could lead to higher costs, reduced production or environmental, health and safety incidents or accidents, which could adversely affect our results and reputation.

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We may not have adequate insurance coverage for some business risks.

Our businesses are generally subject to a number of risks and hazards, which could result in damage to, or destruction of, properties, facilities and equipment. The insurance we maintain against risks that are typical in our business may not provide adequate coverage. Insurance against some risks (including liabilities for environmental pollution or certain hazards or interruption of certain business activities) may not be available at a reasonable cost, or at all. Even when it is available, we may self-insure where we determine that is more cost-effective to do so. As a result, accidents or other negative developments involving our mining, production or transportation facilities could have a material adverse effect on our operations.

Labor disputes may disrupt our operations from time to time.

A substantial number of our employees, and some of the employees of our subcontractors, are represented by labor unions and are covered by collective bargaining or other labor agreements, which are subject to periodic negotiation. Strikes and other labor disruptions at any of our operations could adversely affect the operation of facilities and the timing of completion and cost of our capital projects. For more information about labor relations, see Management and employees—Employees. Moreover, we could be adversely affected by labor disruptions involving unrelated parties that may provide us with goods or services.

Higher energy costs or energy shortages would adversely affect our business.

Costs of fuel oil, gas and electricity are a significant component of our cost of production, representing 10.8% of our total cost of goods sold in 2017. To fulfill our energy needs, we depend on the following sources: oil byproducts, which represented 32.0% of total energy needs in 2017, electricity (31.6%), natural gas (16.7%), coal (15.0%) and other energy sources (4.7%).

Electricity costs represented 4.6% of our total cost of goods sold in 2017. If we are unable to secure reliable access to electricity at acceptable prices, we may be forced to curtail production or may experience higher production costs, either of which would adversely affect our results of operations. We face the risk of energy shortages in the countries where we have operations and projects, especially Brazil, due to lack of infrastructure or weather conditions, such as floods or droughts. Future shortages, and government efforts to respond to or prevent shortages, may adversely impact the cost or supply of electricity for our operations.

Failures in our information technology, operational technology, cybersecurity and telecommunications systems may adversely affect our business and reputation.

We rely heavily on information technology, operational technology and telecommunications systems for the operation of many of our business processes. Failures in those systems, whether caused by obsolescence, technical failures, negligence, accident or malicious acts, may result in the disclosure or theft of sensitive information, misappropriation of funds and disruptions to or interruption in our business operations. We may be the target of attempts to gain unauthorized access to information technology and operational technology systems through the internet, including sophisticated and coordinated attempts often referred to as advanced persistent threats. Disruption of critical information technology, operational technology, cybersecurity or telecommunications systems, or breaches of information security, may harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our operational performance, earnings and financial condition.

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HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS

Our business is subject to environmental, health and safety incidents.

Our operations involve the use, handling, storage, discharge and disposal of hazardous substances into the environment and the use of natural resources, and the mining industry is generally subject to significant risks and hazards, including fire, explosion, toxic gas leaks, spilling of polluting substances or other hazardous materials, rockfalls, incidents involving dams, failure of other operational structures and incidents involving mobile equipment, vehicles or machinery. This could occur by accident or by breach of operating and maintenance standards, and could result in a significant environmental and social impacts, damage to or destruction of mineral properties or production facilities, personal injury, illness or death of employees, contractors or community members close to operations, environmental damage, delays in production, monetary losses and possible legal liability. Additionally, in remote localities, our employees may be exposed to tropical and contagious diseases that may affect their health and safety. Notwithstanding our standards, policies and controls, our operations remain subject to incidents or accidents that could adversely affect our business, stakeholders or reputation.

Our business may be adversely affected by social, environmental and health and safety regulation, including regulations pertaining to climate change.

Nearly all aspects of our activities, products, services and projects around the world are subject to social, environmental and health and safety regulations, which may expose us to increased liability or increased costs. These regulations require us to have environmental licenses, permits and authorizations for our operations and projects, and to conduct environmental and social impact assessments in order to get approval for our projects and permission for initiating construction. Significant changes to existing operations are also subject to these requirements. Difficulties in obtaining or renewing permits may lead to construction delays, cost increases, and may adversely impact our production volumes. Social, environmental and health and safety regulations also impose standards and controls on activities relating to mineral research, mining, pelletizing activities, railway and marine services, ports, decommissioning, refining, distribution and marketing of our products. Such regulation may give rise to significant costs and liabilities. Litigation relating to these or other related matters may adversely affect our financial condition or cause harm to our reputation.

Social, environmental and health and safety regulations in many countries in which we operate has become stricter in recent years, and it is possible that more regulation or more aggressive enforcement of existing regulations will adversely affect us by imposing restrictions on our activities and products, creating new requirements for the issuance or renewal of environmental licenses, resulting in operation delays, raising our costs or requiring us to engage in expensive reclamation efforts.

It is possible that in certain of our iron ore mining operations or projects, we may be required to limit or modify our mining plans or to incur additional costs to preserve caves or to compensate for the impact on them, with potential consequences for production volumes, costs or reserves in our iron ore business. For more information about Brazilian environmental regulations related to caves, see Information on the Company—Regulatory matters—Environmental regulations.

In response to the failure of Samarco's tailings dam in Minas Gerais, additional environmental and health and safety laws and regulations may be forthcoming in Brazil and authorities may impose more stringent conditions in connection with the licensing process of our projects and operations. Also, we may encounter more stringent requirements for and delays in the receipt of environmental operating license for other tailings dams.

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National policies and international regulations regarding climate change may affect a number of our businesses in various countries. The ratification of the Paris Agreement in 2016 increased international pressure for the establishment of a global carbon price, and on companies to adopt carbon pricing strategies. The pricing of greenhouse gas emissions may impact our operational costs, mainly through higher price for fossil fuels as mining is an energy intensive industry, and our cost of international freight. Consumption of coal, one of the products we sell, in particular, is facing pressure from international institutions due to its carbon intensity.

Regulatory initiatives at the national and international levels that affect our shipping practices could increase our costs or require us to make new capital expenditures.

Natural disasters may cause severe damage to our operations and projects in the countries where we operate and may have a negative impact on our sales to countries affected by such disasters.

Natural disasters, such as wind storms, droughts, floods, earthquakes and tsunamis may adversely affect our operations and projects in the countries where we operate, and may cause a contraction in sales to countries adversely affected due to, among other factors, power outages and the destruction of industrial facilities and infrastructure. The physical impact of climate change on our business remains uncertain, but we are likely to experience changes in rainfall patterns, increased temperatures, water shortages, rising sea levels, increased storm frequency and intensity as a result of climate change, which may adversely affect our operations. On some occasions in recent years, we have determined that force majeure events have occurred due to effect of severe weather on our mining and logistics activities.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR MINING RESERVES

Our reserve estimates may materially differ from mineral quantities that we are actually able to recover; our estimates of mine life may prove inaccurate; and market price fluctuations and changes in operating and capital costs may render certain ore reserves uneconomical to mine.

Our reported reserves are estimated quantities of ore and minerals that we have determined can be economically mined and processed under present and assumed future conditions. There are numerous uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of reserves and in projecting potential future rates of mineral production, including factors beyond our control. Reserve reporting involves estimating deposits of minerals that cannot be measured in an exact manner, and the accuracy of any reserve estimate is a function of the quality of available data, engineering and geological interpretation and judgment. As a result, no assurance can be given that the indicated amount of ore will be recovered or that it will be recovered at the rates we anticipate. Reserve estimates and estimates of mine life may require revisions based on actual production experience, projects, updated exploration drilling data and other factors. Lower market prices of minerals and metals, reduced recovery rates or increased operating and capital costs due to inflation, exchange rates, changes in regulatory requirements or other factors may render proven and probable reserves uneconomic to exploit and may ultimately result in a reduction of reserves. Such a reduction could affect depreciation and amortization rates and have an adverse effect on our financial performance.

We may not be able to replenish our reserves, which could adversely affect our mining prospects.

We engage in mineral exploration, which is highly uncertain in nature, involves many risks and frequently is non-productive. Our exploration programs, which involve significant expenditures, may fail to result in

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the expansion or replacement of reserves depleted by current production. If we do not develop new reserves, we will not be able to sustain our current level of production beyond the remaining lives of our existing mines.

The feasibility of new mineral projects may change over time.

Once mineral deposits are discovered, it can take a number of years from the initial phases of drilling until production is possible, during which the economic feasibility of production may change. Substantial time and expenditures are required to:

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establish mineral reserves through drilling;



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determine appropriate mining and metallurgical processes for optimizing the recovery of metal contained in ore;



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obtain environmental and other licenses;



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construct mining, processing facilities and infrastructure required for greenfield properties; and



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obtain the ore or extract the minerals from the ore.

If a project proves not to be economically feasible by the time we are able to exploit it, we may incur substantial losses and be obliged to take write-downs. In addition, potential changes or complications involving metallurgical and other technological processes arising during the life of a project may result in delays and cost overruns that may render the project not economically feasible.

We face rising extraction costs and investment requirements over time as reserves deplete.

Reserves are gradually depleted in the ordinary course of a given open pit or underground mining operation. As mining progresses, distances to the primary crusher and to waste deposits become longer, pits become steeper, mines may move from being open pit to underground, and underground operations become deeper. In addition, for some types of reserves, mineralization grade decreases and hardness increases at greater depths. As a result, over time, we usually experience rising unit extraction costs with respect to each mine, or we may need to make additional investments, including adaptation or construction of processing plants and expansion or construction of tailings dams. Several of our mines have been operating for long periods, and we will likely experience rising extraction costs per unit in the future at these operations in particular.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR CORPORATE STRUCTURE

The shareholders that are party to our shareholders' agreement have significant power over Vale.

On August 14, 2017, Litel Participações S.A. ("Litel"), Bradespar S.A. ("Bradespar"), Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui") and BNDES Participações S.A. ("BNDESPAR") entered into a shareholders' agreement pursuant to which they undertake to vote jointly on certain key matters (the "Shareholders' Agreement"). The Shareholders' Agreement is expected to expire on November 9, 2020. See Share ownership and trading—Major shareholders. On December 31, 2017, Litel, Bradespar, Mitsui and BNDESPAR together held 40.29% of our total capital stock. As long as no other shareholder or group of shareholders owns more shares than

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the parties to the Shareholders' Agreement, these major shareholders may elect a majority of the members of the board of directors and control the outcome of certain actions requiring shareholder approval.

The Brazilian Government has certain veto rights.

The Brazilian government owns 12 golden shares of Vale, granting it limited veto power over certain company actions, such as changes to our name, the location of our headquarters and our corporate purpose as it relates to mining activities. For a detailed description of the Brazilian government's veto powers, see Additional information—Memorandum and articles of association—Common shares and golden shares.

Our governance and compliance processes may fail to prevent regulatory penalties and reputational harm.

We operate in a global environment, and our activities extend over multiple jurisdictions and complex regulatory frameworks, with increasing enforcement activities worldwide. Our governance and compliance processes, which include the review of internal control over financial reporting, may not timely identify or prevent future breaches of legal, accounting or governance standards. We may be subject to breaches of our code of ethics and conduct, anti-corruption policies and business conduct protocols and to instances of fraudulent behavior, corrupt practices and dishonesty by our employees, contractors or other agents. Our failure to comply with applicable laws and other standards could subject us to investigations by authorities, litigation, fines, loss of operating licenses, disgorgement of profits, involuntary dissolution and reputational harm.

It could be difficult for investors to enforce any judgment obtained outside Brazil against us or any of our associates.

Our investors may be located in jurisdictions outside Brazil and could seek to bring actions against us or our directors or officers in the courts of their home jurisdictions. We are a Brazilian company, and the majority of our officers and directors are residents of Brazil. The vast majority of our assets and the assets of our officers and directors are likely to be located in jurisdictions other than the home jurisdictions of our foreign investors. It might not be possible for investors outside Brazil to effect service of process within their home jurisdictions on us or on our officers or directors who reside outside their home jurisdictions. In addition, a final conclusive foreign judgment will be enforceable in the courts of Brazil without a re-examination of the merits only if previously confirmed by the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ—Superior Tribunal de Justiça), and confirmation will only be granted if the foreign judgment: (a) fulfills all formalities required for its enforceability under the laws of the country where it was issued; (b) was issued by a competent court after due service of process on the defendant, as required under applicable law; (c) is not subject to appeal; (d) does not conflict with a final and unappealable decision issued by a Brazilian court; (e) was authenticated by a Brazilian consulate in the country in which it was issued or is duly apostilled in accordance with the Convention for Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents and is accompanied by a sworn translation into Portuguese, unless this procedure was exempted by an international treaty entered into by Brazil; (f) it does not cover matters subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Brazilian courts; and (g) is not contrary to Brazilian national sovereignty, public policy or good morals. Therefore, investors might not be able to recover against us or our directors and officers on judgments of the courts of their home jurisdictions predicated upon the laws of such jurisdictions.

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RISKS RELATING TO OUR DEPOSITARY SHARES

If ADR holders exchange ADSs for the underlying shares, they risk losing the ability to remit foreign currency abroad.

The custodian for the shares underlying our ADSs maintains a registration with the Central Bank of Brazil permitting qualifying institutional foreign investors to buy and sell securities on the B3 and entitling the custodian to remit U.S. dollars outside Brazil for payments of dividends and other distributions relating to the shares underlying our ADSs or upon the disposition of the underlying shares. If an ADR holder exchanges its ADSs for the underlying shares, it will be entitled to rely on the custodian's registration for only five business days from the date of exchange. Thereafter, an ADR holder may not be able to obtain and remit foreign currency abroad upon the disposition of, or distributions relating to, the underlying shares unless it obtains its own registration under applicable regulation. See Additional information—Exchange controls and other limitations affecting security holders. If an ADR holder attempts to obtain its own registration, it may incur expenses or suffer delays in the application process, which could delay the receipt of dividends or other distributions relating to the underlying shares or the return of capital in a timely manner.

The custodian's registration or any registration obtained could be affected by future legislative changes, and additional restrictions applicable to ADR holders, the disposition of the underlying shares or the repatriation of the proceeds from disposition could be imposed in the future.

ADR holders may not have all the rights of our shareholders, and may be unable to exercise preemptive rights relating to the shares underlying their ADSs.

ADR holders may not have the same rights that are attributed to our shareholders by Brazilian law or our bylaws, and the rights of ADR holders may be subject to certain limitations provided in the deposit agreement or by the securities intermediaries through which ADR holders hold their securities. Also, the ability of ADR holders to exercise preemptive rights is not assured, particularly if the applicable law in the holder's jurisdiction (for example, the Securities Act in the United States) requires that either a registration statement be effective or an exemption from registration be available with respect to those rights, as is in the case in the United States. We are not obligated to extend the offer of preemptive rights to holders of ADRs, to file a registration statement in the United States, or to make any other similar filing in any other jurisdiction, relating to preemptive rights or to undertake steps that may be needed to make exemptions from registration available, and we cannot assure holders that we will file any registration statement or take such steps.

ADR holders may encounter difficulties in the exercise of voting rights.

ADR holders do not have the rights of shareholders. They have only the contractual rights set forth for their benefit under the deposit agreements. ADR holders are not permitted to attend shareholders' meetings, and they may only vote by providing instructions to the depositary. In practice, the ability of a holder of ADRs to instruct the depositary as to voting will depend on the timing and procedures for providing instructions to the depositary either directly or through the holder's custodian and clearing system. With respect to ADSs for which instructions are not received, the depositary may, subject to certain limitations, grant a proxy to a person designated by us.

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The legal protections for holders of our securities differ from one jurisdiction to another and may be inconsistent, unfamiliar or less effective than investors anticipate.

We are a global company with securities traded in several different markets and investors located in many different countries. The legal regime for the protection of investors varies around the world, sometimes in important ways, and investors in our securities should recognize that the protections and remedies available to them may be different from those to which they are accustomed in their home markets. We are subject to securities legislation in several countries, which have different rules, supervision and enforcement practices. The only corporate law applicable to our parent company is the law of Brazil, with its specific substantive rules and judicial procedures. We are subject to corporate governance rules in several jurisdictions where our securities are listed, but as a foreign private issuer, we are not required to follow many of the corporate governance rules that apply to U.S. domestic issuers with securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and we are not subject to the U.S. proxy rules.

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II.    INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

LINES OF BUSINESS

Our principal lines of business consist of mining and related logistics. This section presents information about operations, production, sales and competition and is organized as follows.

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1.  Ferrous minerals

Our ferrous minerals business includes iron ore mining, iron ore pellet production, manganese ore mining and ferroalloy production. Each of these activities is described below.

1.1         Iron ore and iron ore pellets

1.1.1      Iron ore operations

We conduct our iron ore business in Brazil primarily at the parent-company level, and through our subsidiaries Mineração Corumbaense Reunida S.A. ("MCR") and Minerações Brasileiras Reunidas S.A.—MBR ("MBR"). Our mines, all of which are open pit, and their related operations are mainly concentrated in three systems: the Southeastern, Southern and Northern Systems, each with its own transportation capabilities. We also conduct mining operations in the Midwestern System and we have a 50% stake in Samarco. Samarco's operations have been suspended following the failure of one of its tailings dams located in Minas Gerais in November 2015 (see Business overview—Failure of Samarco's tailings dam in Minas Gerais). We conduct each of our iron ore operations in Brazil under concessions from the federal government granted for an indefinite period, subject to the life of the mines.

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1.1.2      Iron ore production

The following table sets forth information about our iron ore production.

1.1.3      Iron ore pellet operations

We produce iron ore pellets in Brazil and Oman, directly and through joint ventures, as set forth in the table below. We also have a 25% interest in two iron ore pelletizing plants in China, Zhuhai Yueyufeng Iron and Steel Co., Ltd ("Zhuhai YPM") and Anyang Iron & Steel Co.,  Ltd ("Anyang"). Our total estimated nominal capacity is 64.7 Mtpy, including the full capacity of our pelletizing plants in Oman, but not including our joint ventures Samarco, Zhuhai YPM and Anyang. We supply all of the iron ore requirements of our wholly owned pellet plants and part of the iron ore requirements for Samarco and Zhuhai YPM. In 2017, we sold 0.5 million metric tons of pellet feed to Zhuhai YPM. We suspended our sales of run-of-mine to Samarco following the failure of Samarco's tailings dam in November 2015.

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1.1.4      Iron ore pellets production

The following table sets forth information about our main iron ore pellet production.

1.1.5      Customers, sales and marketing

We supply all of our iron ore and iron ore pellets to the steel industry. Prevailing and expected levels of demand for steel products affect demand for our iron ore and iron ore pellets. Demand for steel products is influenced by many factors, such as global manufacturing production, civil construction and infrastructure spending. For further information about demand and prices, see Operating and financial review and prospects—Major factors affecting prices.

In 2017, China accounted for 57% of our iron ore and iron ore pellet shipments, and Asia as a whole accounted for 71%. Europe accounted for 13%, followed by Brazil with 9%. Our ten largest customers collectively purchased 134 million metric tons of iron ore and iron ore pellets from us, representing 39% of our 2017 iron ore and iron ore pellet sales volumes and 39% of our total iron ore and iron ore pellet revenues. In 2017, no individual customer accounted for more than 7% of our iron ore and iron ore pellet shipments.

Of our total 2017 pellet production, 59% was blast furnace pellets and 41% was direct reduction pellets. Blast furnace and direct reduction are different technologies employed by steel mills to produce steels, each using different types of pellets. In 2017, the Asian market (mainly Japan), the European market and the Brazilian market were the primary markets for our blast furnace pellets, while the Middle East and North America were the primary markets for our direct reduction pellets.

We invest in customer service in order to improve our competitiveness. We work with our customers to understand their objectives and to provide them with iron ore solutions to meet specific customer needs. Using our expertise in mining, agglomeration and iron-making processes, we search for technical solutions that will balance the best use of our world-class mining assets and the satisfaction of our customers. We believe that our ability to provide customers with a total iron ore solution and the quality of our products are both very important advantages helping us improve our competitiveness in relation to competitors that may be more conveniently located geographically. In addition to offering technical assistance to our customers, we have sales offices in St. Prex (Switzerland), Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea), Singapore, Dubai (UAE) and Shanghai (China), which support global sales by Vale International, and an office in Brazil, which supports sales to South America. These offices also allow us to stay in close

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contact with our customers, monitor their requirements and our contract performance, and ensure that our customers receive timely deliveries.

We sell iron ore and iron ore pellets under different arrangements, including long-term contracts with customers and on a spot basis through tenders and trading platforms. Our pricing is generally linked to market price indexes and uses a variety of mechanisms, including current spot prices and average prices over specified periods. In cases where the products are priced before the final price is determinable at delivery, we recognize the sale based on a provisional price with a subsequent adjustment reflecting the final price.

In 2017, we hedged part of our total exposure to bunker oil prices relating to our owned fleet and long-term contracts of affreightment connected to our FOB and CFR international and domestic sales. The 2017 hedge program was settled in 2017.

1.1.6      Competition

The global iron ore and iron ore pellet markets are highly competitive. The main factors affecting competition are price, quality and range of products offered, reliability, operating costs and shipping costs.

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Asia - Our main competitors in the Asian market are located in Australia and include subsidiaries and affiliates of BHP, Rio Tinto Ltd ("Rio Tinto") and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. We are competitive in the Asian market for two main reasons. First, steel companies generally seek to obtain the types (or blends) of iron ore and iron ore pellets that can produce the intended final product in the most economic and efficient manner. Our iron ore has low impurity levels and other properties that generally lead to lower processing costs. For example, in addition to its high-grade, the alumina content of our iron ore is very low compared to Australian ores, reducing consumption of coke and increasing productivity in blast furnaces, which is particularly important during periods of high demand. When market demand is strong, our quality differential generally becomes more valuable to customers. Second, steel companies often develop sales relationships based on a reliable supply of a specific mix of iron ore and iron ore pellets. Our ownership and operation of logistics facilities in the Northern and Southeastern Systems help us ensure that our products are delivered on time and at a relatively low cost. We rely on long-term contracts of affreightment to enhance our ability to offer our products in the Asian market at competitive prices on a CFR basis, despite higher transportation costs compared to Australian producers. To support our commercial strategy for our iron ore business, we operate two distribution centers, one in Malaysia and one in Oman and we have long-term agreements with twelve ports in China, which also serve as distribution centers. In 2015, we launched the Brazilian blend fines (BRBF), a product resulting from blending fines from Carajás, which contain a higher concentration of iron and a lower concentration of silica in the ore, with fines from the Southern and Southeastern Systems, which contain a lower concentration of iron in the ore. The resulting blend offers strong performance in any kind of sintering operation. It is blended and sold in our Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal in Malaysia and in twelve distribution centers in China, which reduces the time to reach Asian markets and increases our distribution capillarity by using smaller vessels.



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Europe - Our main competitors in the European market are Luossavaara Kiirunavaara AB ("LKAB"), ArcelorMittal Mines Canada Inc., Iron Ore Company of Canada, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto., Kumba Iron Ore Limited and Société Nationale Industrielle et Miniére. We are

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competitive in the European market for the same reasons as in Asia, but also due to the proximity of our port facilities to European customers.

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Brazil - The Brazilian iron ore market is also competitive, and includes several small iron ore producers. Some steel companies, including Gerdau S.A. ("Gerdau"), Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional ("CSN"), Vallourec Tubos do Brasil S.A., Usiminas and Arcelor Mittal, also have iron ore mining operations. Although pricing is relevant, quality and reliability are important competitive factors as well. We believe that our integrated transportation systems, high-quality ore and technical services make us a strong competitor in the Brazilian market.

With respect to pellets, our major competitors are LKAB, Iron Ore Company of Canada, Ferrexpo Plc, Arcelor Mittal Mines Canada (former Quebec Cartier Mining Co.) and Bahrain Steel (former Gulf Industrial Investment Co.).

1.2         Manganese ore and ferroalloys

1.2.1      Manganese ore operations and production

We conduct our manganese mining operations in Brazil through Vale S.A. and our wholly owned subsidiaries Vale Manganês S.A. ("Vale Manganês") and MCR. Our mining operations are carried out under concessions from the federal government granted for an indefinite period. Our mines produce metallurgical ore, used primarily for the production of manganese ferroalloys, a raw material used to produce carbon and stainless steel.

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The following table sets forth information about our manganese ore production, obtained after beneficiation process, and mass recovery.

1.2.2      Manganese ferroalloys operations and production

We conduct our manganese ferroalloys business through our wholly owned subsidiary Vale Manganês. The production of manganese ferroalloys consumes significant amounts of electricity, which is provided through power purchase agreements.

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We produce several types of manganese ferroalloys, such as high carbon and medium carbon ferro-manganese and ferro-silicon manganese.

The following table sets forth information about our manganese ferroalloys production.

1.2.3      Manganese ore and ferroalloys: sales and competition

The markets for manganese ore and ferroalloys are highly competitive. Competition in the manganese ore market takes place in two segments. High- and medium-grade manganese ore competes on a global seaborne basis, while low-grade ore competes on a regional basis. For some manganese ferroalloys, especially ferromanganese, higher-grade manganese ores are required to achieve competitive quality and cost, while medium- to lower-grade ores may be used in silicomanganese production. The main suppliers of high-grade ores are located in South Africa, Gabon, Australia and Brazil. The main producers of low-grade ores are located in the Ukraine, China, South Africa, Ghana, Kazakhstan, India and Mexico.

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We compete in the seaborne market with both high- and medium-grade ores from the Azul and Urucum mines, where we benefit from extensive synergies with our iron ore operations, from mine to rail to port to vessel operations. Our main competitors in this segment are South32 (Australia and South Africa) and Eramet (Gabon). Our lower-grade ores, especially those from Morro da Mina, are consumed internally in our ferroalloy smelters.

The manganese ferroalloy market is characterized by a large number of participants who compete primarily on the basis of price. Our competitors are located principally in countries that produce manganese ore or carbon steel. Potential entrants and substitutes come from silicon or chrome ferroalloys, which can occasionally shift their furnaces to manganese alloys, and from electrolytic manganese producers. Competitors may be either integrated smelters like us, who feed manganese ore from their own mines, or non-integrated smelters. The principal competitive factors in this market are the costs of manganese ore, electricity, logistics and reductants such as coke, coal and charcoal. We compete with both stand-alone and integrated producers.

Focusing mainly in the Brazilian, South and North American steelmaking customers, our ferroalloys operations also benefit from synergies with our iron ore sales, marketing, procurement and logistics activities. We buy our energy and coke supplies at reasonable market prices both though medium-and long-term contracts. Competitors in the Brazilian market are about a dozen smelters with capacities from five to 90 thousand tons per year, most of which are not integrated and some of which are customers of our manganese ores. We have a distinctive advantage in comparison to them in producing ferroalloys with higher manganese content.

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2.  BASE METALS

2.1         Nickel

2.1.1      Operations

We conduct our nickel operations primarily through our wholly owned subsidiary Vale Canada, which operates two nickel production systems, one in the North Atlantic region and the other in the Asia Pacific region. We also produce copper as a coproduct in our nickel operations in Canada and, through Vale S.A., operate a third nickel production system, Onça Puma, in the South Atlantic region. Our nickel operations are set forth in the following table.

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2.1.2      Production

The following table sets forth our annual mine production by operating mine (or, on an aggregate basis in the case of the Sulawesi operating areas operated by PTVI in Indonesia, because it is organized by mining areas rather than individual mines) and the average percentage grades of nickel and copper. The mine production at Sulawesi represents the product from PTVI's screening station delivered to PTVI's processing plant and does not include nickel losses due to drying and smelting. For our Sudbury, Thompson and Voisey's Bay operations, the production and average grades represent the mine product delivered to those operations' respective processing plants and do not include adjustments due to beneficiation, smelting or refining. For our Onça Puma operation in Brazil and VNC operation in New Caledonia the production and average grade represents in-place ore production and does not include losses due to processing.

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The following table sets forth information about our nickel production, including: nickel refined through our facilities and intermediates designated for sale. The numbers below are reported on a contained nickel ore-source basis.

2.1.3      Customers and sales

Our nickel customers are broadly distributed on a global basis. In 2017, 45% of our refined nickel sales were delivered to customers in Asia, 24% to Europe, 24% to North America and 7% to other markets. We have short-term fixed-volume contracts with customers for the majority of our expected annual nickel sales. These contracts generally provide stable demand for a significant portion of our annual production.

Nickel is an exchange-traded metal, listed on the London Metal Exchange ("LME") and Shanghai Futures Exchange ("SHFE"), and most nickel products are priced according to a discount or premium to the LME price, depending primarily on the nickel product's physical and technical characteristics. Our finished nickel products represent what is known in the industry as "primary" nickel, meaning nickel produced principally from nickel ores (as opposed to "secondary" nickel, which is recovered from recycled nickel-containing material). Finished primary nickel products are distinguishable in terms of the following characteristics, which determine the product price level and the suitability for various end-use applications:

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nickel content and purity level: (i) intermediates have various levels of nickel content, (ii) nickel pig iron has 1.5-15% nickel, (iii) ferro-nickel has 15-40% nickel, (iv) refined nickel with less than 99.8% nickel, including products such as Tonimet™ and Utility™ nickel, (v) standard LME-grade nickel has a minimum of 99.8% nickel, and (vi) high-purity nickel has a minimum of 99.9% nickel and does not contain specific elemental impurities;



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shape (such as discrete or filamentary powders, pellets, discs, squares and strips); and



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size (from micron powder particles to large full-sized cathodes)

In 2017, the principal end-use applications for nickel were:

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stainless steel (69% of global nickel consumption);

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non-ferrous alloys, alloy steels and foundry applications (17% of global nickel consumption);



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nickel plating (6% of global nickel consumption);



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batteries (3% of global nickel consumption); and



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specialty applications, such as chemicals and powder metallurgy (5% of global nickel consumption).

In 2017, 63% of our refined nickel sales were made into non-stainless steel applications, compared to the industry average for primary nickel producers of 31%. This brings more diversification and sales volume stability to our nickel revenues. As a result of our focus on higher-value segments, our average realized nickel prices for refined nickel have typically exceeded LME cash nickel prices.

We offer sales and technical support to our customers on a global basis through an established marketing network headquartered at our head office in Toronto (Canada). We have a well-established global marketing network for finished nickel, based at our head office in Toronto (Canada). We also have sales and technical support distributed around the world with primary back offices in Singapore and Toronto (Canada) and have sales managers located in St.Prex (Switzerland), Paramus, New Jersey (United States) and at several sites throughout Asia. For information about demand and prices, see Operating and financial review and prospects—Major factors affecting prices.

2.1.4      Competition

The global nickel market is highly competitive. Our key competitive strengths include our long-life mines, our low cash costs of production relative to other nickel producers, sophisticated exploration and processing technologies, and a diversified portfolio of products. Our global marketing reach, diverse product mix, and technical support direct our products into applications and geographic regions that offer the highest margins for our products.

Our nickel deliveries represented 13% of global consumption for primary nickel in 2017. In addition to us, the largest mine-to-market integrated suppliers in the nickel industry (each with its own integrated facilities, including nickel mining, processing, refining and marketing operations) are Nornickel, Glencore, Jinchuan Nonferrous Metals Corporation and BHP Billiton. Together with us, these companies accounted for about 39% of global refined primary nickel production in 2017.

While stainless steel production is a major driver of global nickel demand, stainless steel producers can obtain nickel with a wide range of nickel content, including secondary nickel (scrap). The choice between primary and secondary nickel is largely based on their relative prices and availability. See Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Major factors affecting prices—Nickel.

Competition in the nickel market is based primarily on quality and reliability of supply and price. We believe our operations are competitive in the nickel market because of the high quality of our nickel products and our relatively low production costs.

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2.2         Copper

2.2.1      Operations

We conduct our copper operations at the parent-company level in Brazil and through our subsidiaries in Canada.