By Jeffrey T. Lewis

SAO PAULO--Brazilian mining giant Vale SA said output and sales of iron ore rose in the third quarter from the second quarter as the company was able to normalize both production and logistics.

Iron-ore output rose 31.2% in the third quarter from the previous three months to 88.7 million metric tons, and rose 2.3% from the third quarter of last year, Vale said Monday in its quarterly production report. Production of iron-ore pellets, a premium product, rose 21.1% in the third quarter from the previous three months to 8.6 million metric tons, and fell 23.1% from the third quarter of last year, Vale said.

Sales of iron ore rose 20.4% in the third quarter from the second quarter to 65.8 million tons and fell 11.2% from the third quarter of last year. Sales of pellets rose 21.8% from the second quarter to 8.5 million tons, and fell 23.6% from a year earlier.

The company's production in the second quarter was affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which cut iron-ore output by 3.5 million tons. With the normalization of production and logistics, sales performance is expected to improve even more in the fourth quarter, Vale said.

Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-19-20 1850ET