SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian miner Vale on Wednesday lowered its forecast for iron ore agglomerates production in 2025 to a range between 31 million and 35 million metric tons, from a previous estimate of 38 million to 42 million tons.

Vale said that the change reflected current market conditions for pellets, adding that it had also decided to bring forward preventive maintenance at its Sao Luis pelletizing plant in the third quarter, suspending production during the period.