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By Stephen Eisenhammer
RIO DE JANEIRO, July 23 (Reuters) - Brazilian mining company Vale SA VALE5.SA said on Thursday it produced 85.3 million tonnes of its own iron ore in the second quarter, a record for the quarter and second highest ever for the firm.
The total was 7.4 percent higher than the same period last year as the world's largest iron ore producer continues to ramp up output despite a falling price for the mineral .IO62-CNI=SI , which recently touched a decade low. Vale's all-time quarterly record for the main steel-making ingredient was 85.7 million tonnes in the third quarter of 2014.
Shares in Vale rose 1.5 percent in early morning trade in Sao Paulo.
As the iron ore market moves from boom to bust, Vale is in a battle for market share with low-cost Australian producers Rio Tinto RIO.L and BHP Billiton BLT.L .
On top of increasing overall output, Vale reiterated it is cutting 25-30 million tonnes a year of low-quality iron ore on which the company is no longer making enough money. Vale did not give a timeframe for the reduction in low-quality ore volumes but said it would be replaced by new, higher-quality production.
The company also produced 67,100 tonnes of nickel and 2.01 million tonnes of coal in the quarter, the company said in a statement.
When 4.02 million tonnes of iron ore purchased from third parties is included, Vale produced 89.3 million tonnes in the quarter. (Additional Reporting by Jeb Blount, Editing by Franklin Paul and Nick Zieminski)