Brazilian miner Vale has seen its iron ore exports increase by 7.6 per cent in the period from January to November of 2014, compared with the first 11 months of last year. In November alone, Vale’s iron ore export volume reached 24.7 million mt, which represents an increase of 1.78 per cent year on year and a fall of 3.66 per cent compared to October.

The data was released on Monday by Brazil’s National Union of the Industry of Extraction of Iron and Base Metals (Sinferbase).

Vales’ November iron ore sales in the domestic market totalled 1.9 million mt, which is up 13.6 per cent year on year but down by 15.2 per cent month on month. Between January and November of this year, Vale’s iron ore sales in its domestic market reached 21.24 million mt, rising by 10 per cent when compared with the same period of last year.

Iron ore is the worst-performing major commodity of 2014. A key ingredient in steelmaking, iron ore has dropped almost 50 per cent this year to a five-year low as a glut of new supply, primarily from mines in Australia, hit the market. That has overwhelmed demand growth in China, the world’s biggest consumer.

This year has also been a tough year for commodities in general, which are on course to be the worst-performing major asset class for a third consecutive year. The Bloomberg Commodity index has fallen 14 per cent in 2014 to a five-year low. Brazil Iron Ore Mining Market

Stock in Brazil’s Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore producer, has already been a roundabout investment. The price in early December was close to where it was in 2005. Earlier this month, it announced tentative plans to float part of its base metals business as slumping iron ore prices force the Brazilian miner to focus on its core business. This would represent one of several asset sales aimed at raising up to $10bn next year.

Nickel has been the best performer of the metals traded on the London Metal Exchange this year. Prices rose to a high of $21,625 in May after Indonesia banned exports in a bid to boost its domestic processing industry.