Vale S.A.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Vale's third quarter 2025 earnings call. This conference is being recorded and the replay will be available on our website at vale.com. The presentation is also available for download in English and Portuguese from our website. To listen to the call in Portuguese, please press the globe icon on the lower right side of your Zoom screen and then choose to enter the Portuguese room. then select Mute Original Audio so that you won't hear the English version in the background. We would like to inform that all participants are currently in a listen-only mode for the presentations. Further instructions will be provided before we begin the question and answer section of our call. We would like to advise that forward-looking statements may be provided in this presentation, including VARI's expectations about future events or results, encompassing those matters listed in the respective presentation. We caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties. To obtain information on factors that may lead to results different from those forecast by Vale, please consult the report's Vale files with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Brazilian Comissão de Valores Mobiliários, and in particular the factors discussed under forward-looking statements and risk factors in Vale's annual report on Form 20-F. With us today are Mr. Gustavo Pimenta, CEO, Mr. Marcelo Batti, Executive Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations, Mr. Rogério Nogueira, Executive Vice President, Commercial and Development, Mr. Carlos Medeiros, Executive Vice President of Operations, and Sean Asmar, CEO of Vale Base Metals. Now, I will turn the conference over to Mr. Gustavo Pimenta. Sir, you may now begin.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Vale's third quarter 2025 conference call. I would like to start by highlighting how excited I am about what we are building at Vale. Our vision to become a trusted partner with the most competitive and resilient portfolio in the industry remains solid, and we continue to make significant progress towards this future. This quarter, we once again delivered solid operational and cost performance across the board, and we are on track to deliver all of our guidances for the year. We continue to advance our safety agenda, most notably by removing the last dam from Emergence Level 3, a significant milestone in our de-risking journey. Our key initiatives and growth projects are also moving forward as planned, reinforcing our long-term strategic focus and disciplined capital allocation approach. These results give me great confidence in Vale's future and in the value we are creating. not only for our shareholders, but also for society. Now let's move on to the quarter performance on the next slide. First, I would like to highlight the solid operational results we delivered across all three commodities, positioning us to reach the upper limit of our annual production guidances. This achievement reflects the outstanding performance of our operational teams, and I want to congratulate them for their hard work and consistency throughout the year. This quarter, iron ore production reached 94 million tons, an increase of 4% year-on-year, and our highest quarterly output since 2018. This growth was primarily driven by a record third-quarter performance at S11D, along with the ramp-up of BRUKU2, CAPA NEMA and Vargen Grande projects, which added flexibility to our operations and product mix. Copper also delivered a strong performance, with production growing 6% compared to last year, supported by Salobu's solid performance. This was the best third-quarter result for our copper business since 2019. Nickel production remained flat year-on-year, but with an increase in our own production, thanks to the ramp-up of the Voices Bay underground project. This allowed us to significantly reduce our unit cost year-on-year, as Marcelo will present later. Also in Ico, we started operations at the second furnace of Onsepuma in September. The project was completed on schedule and 13% below the planned CAPEX, reinforcing our commitment to efficiency. The second furnace adds 15,000 tons of production capacity per year, and it is expected to further reduce unit costs by approximately 10%, enhancing the competitiveness of our nickel business. We also reached other important milestones this quarter through our new Carajás program, which aims to accelerate the development of key projects in one of the world's most attractive mineral deposits. As many of you know, in June, we received the preliminary license for the Bacaba Copper Project and have since began preparations for construction, which is set to start in the coming month following the issuance of the construction license. In Iron Ore, we received the operating license for the Sarasou plus 20 million tons per annum expansion. The project has reached 80% physical progress and should start up by the end of 2026. Additionally, we secured approval to expand Serraleste's capacity from the current 6 million tons per year to 10 million tons per year, bringing extra volumes to the northern system with a highly competitive capital intensity of just $20 per ton. Now looking at our portfolio. One of Vale's key competitive advantages is our ability to adapt to different market conditions, offering a product mix that meets the evolving needs of our customers. This is possible given the flexibility of our supply chain, supported by multiple blending, concentration, and distribution facilities across the world. Throughout 2025, we actively adjusted our IONOR product portfolio, concentrating our high silica products and launching a new medium-grade product from Carajás. This flexibility results in significant value creation. In Q3, our iron ore finance premium increased by nearly $2 per ton quarter on quarter. From an EBITDA perspective, those initiatives represent over $500 million improvement on an annualized basis. Safety is at the center of every decision we make at Vale, and I'm very proud of the significant progress we have achieved this quarter in dam safety and management. Back in 2020, we made a public commitment. By 2025, Vale would no longer have any dams classified at Emergence Level 3, the highest risk category. Last August, we fulfilled that commitment. The Forquilhas III dam, the last one at level three, had its emergency status officially lowered to level two by Brazilian authorities. This is an important milestone in our commitment to society and neighboring communities and a key mark in our safety journey. Also in August, we announced that Vale successfully implemented the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management, the GISTM, meeting the requirements of this internationally recognized benchmark. Lastly, in September, we completed the de-characterization of the group of dams in Minas Gerais, marking the 18th structure eliminated under our program. Advancing the dam safety agenda is essential to ensuring no repetition and becoming a trusted partner to society. We remain committed to delivering results and being a reference for safety and operational excellency in our industry. Our efforts to transform Vale are beginning to be recognized by ESG rating agencies. We've demonstrated substantial improvements in governance, dam safety and management, health and safety, and climate change. These advancements have led to upgrades in our ratings, now surpassing levels seen prior to Brumadinho. I would also like to highlight that over the last year and a half, a relevant number of ESG-focused investors have removed Vale from their exclusion lists. We estimate roughly 1.5 trillion in AUM can now invest again in our shares and fixed income instruments. We remain dedicated to transparently showcasing the progress we've made across the company, and we remain firmly committed to the principles of the UN Global Compact, including respect for human rights, labor standards, and environmental protection. I will now pass the floor to Marcelo Bacci to discuss our financial performance. I'll be back for closing remarks before the Q&A session. Marcelo, please go ahead.

Thanks, Gustavo, and good morning, everyone. As Gustavo highlighted, we delivered another quarter of solid operational performance, which gives us even more confidence in the long-term value we are creating for our shareholders. This quarter, our pro forma EBITDA reached $4.4 billion, an increase of 17% compared to the same period last year and 28% higher than the last quarter. As you can see on the slide, this consistent result was driven by robust sales, lower hauling costs across all three commodities, and more favorable pricing conditions. In base metals, EBITDA grew by more than $400 million year-on-year, reaching almost $700 million thanks to better results in both copper and nickel. In iron ore, EBITDA was close to $4 billion, an increase of almost $250 million, supported by higher realized prices and quality premiums, reflecting the success of our portfolio strategy. This improvement was also supported by the higher sales of iron ore finds, as I'll detail on the next slide. our iron ore sales increased by 5% year-on-year, reaching 86 million tons, the highest level for a third quarter since 2018. This growth was driven by stronger production performance and solid demand for R&R finds, with benchmark prices staying above $100 per ton for most of the quarter. This quarter, we built up around 4 million tons of inventory. It's important to highlight that this was mainly due to volumes in transit to our 20 distribution and concentrating facilities in Asia and Europe, supporting our portfolio strategy. We expect these inventories to be converted into sales over the coming quarters, helping us maximize the value generated by the business. Now, looking more closely at our cost performance, I'm very pleased to see that we are on the right track to meet our 2025 R&R cost guidance. R&R all-in costs declined 4% year-on-year, supported by our portfolio strategy, which led our average R&R finds quality premiums to increase by almost $2 per ton quarter-on-quarter and $3 per ton year-on-year. Our long-term affratement strategy is also delivering excellent results, reducing cost volatility and coming in $5 per ton below spot freight rates to China during the period. Our C1 cost, excluding third-party purchases, remained flat year-on-year, reflecting a positive impact from inventory turnover compared to last year, which offset the effects from the exchange rate and higher maintenance and materials costs. These effects led to an increase in our production cost, which reached $20.3 per ton this quarter. The production costs from this quarter, along with the less favorable exchange rate compared to last year, are important factors to consider when estimating our C1 cost for Q4, which is expected to increase year on year. Despite this, we remain highly confident in achieving our full year guidance of $20.5 to $22 per ton. In base metals, our performance stood out once again, showing the great potential of this business as we continue to unlock value through ongoing initiatives. Copper all-in costs decreased by 65%, falling below $1,000 per ton. This was the fifth quarter in a row that we've seen cost reductions year-on-year. In nickel, all-in costs fell by 32% year-on-year to $12,300 per ton, reaching the lowest level since the second quarter of 2022, even after taking into account the impact of the PTVI deconsolidation. These improvements came from Valley-based Metal's consistent focus on efficiency initiatives, combined with higher by-product revenues in our polymetallic sites, with gold being the main contributor. Because of the lower than expected costs so far this year and the favorable outlook for byproduct revenues, we are once again lowering our 2025 cost guidance. We now expect nickel all-in costs to be between $13,000 and $14,000 per ton and copper all-in costs to be between $1,000 and $1,500 per ton. This continued cost improvements means an EBITDA increase of nearly $900 million compared to our expectations at the start of the year. Now let's move on to cash generation. Recurring free cash flow reached $1.6 billion in Q3, an increase of $1 billion year on year. This improvement was primarily driven by our solid EBITDA in the quarter and the reduced impact from negative working capital. Our total capex was $1.3 billion this quarter. We expect investment disbursements to increase in the fourth quarter, keeping us on track to meet our $5.4 to $5.7 billion full-year guidance. On top of our recurring free cash flow generation, we also had a positive impact from the Aliança Energia transaction, which helped boost total free cash flow in the quarter to $2.6 billion. This strong free cash flow generation and strong cash position were primarily used to return value to our shareholders, with the payment of $1.5 billion in interest on capital and a net borrowing of $600 million as part of liability management. Next slide, please. As a result, our expanded net debt decreased by $800 million quarter-on-quarter, reaching $16.6 billion. With iron ore prices remaining above $100 per ton, we expect the free cash flow generation in the fourth quarter to bring us down at least to the midpoint of our target range of $10 to $20 billion. In this context, we see increased room to consider additional shareholder remuneration, even in the context of the participative debenture standard offer. Before handing over to Gustavo for his closing remarks, I want to emphasize the value we are consistently delivering to our shareholders. Through our growth strategy, cost efficiency, and disciplined capital allocation, we are building a more resilient and high-performing company. These efforts strengthen our financial position and create conditions for sustainable and increasing returns to our shareholders over time. Gustavo, please.