Vale sees red over Australian coal Brazilian mining giant Vale has written down its Australian coal assets by $US1.03 billion ($1 billion), part of $US5.7 billion in impairments which dragged the company's net earnings down by 76 per cent in 2012 and led it to report a bottom-line loss in the December quarter. After reporting record profitability in 2011, Vale's revenues fell 23 per cent and underlying earnings more than halved due to lower commodity prices in 2012. Net earnings including impairments slumped 76 per cent to $US5.5 billion. Vale described 2012 as a ""challenging year for the world economy"" which led to a ""generalised decline in minerals and metals prices, with the exception of gold"." Vale's coal division is headquartered in Brisbane and it has interests in three coal mines in Australia: in Queensland it operates the Carborough Downs Mine and part-owns the Isaac Plains Mine in the northern Bowen Basin; in New South Wales, it operates the Integra mine in the Hunter Valley. Vale's coal division reported record output from its coal division as its Moatize mine in Mozambique ramped up production. Iron ore and pellet shipments also reached an all-time high of 303 million tonnes. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, or adjusted Ebitda, declined to $US4.39 billion, missing a $US4.79 billion average estimate by 14 analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Vale's chief executive Murilo Ferreira is selling assets, cutting investments and writing down unprofitable projects as falling metal and mineral prices led last year to its lowest annual profit since 2009. The company failed to boost iron-ore output in 2012, ceding its title as the world's second-largest miner by market value to Rio Tinto in October and losing market share to its Australian rivals. Vale slumped to a net loss in the December quarter due to impairments including the Australian coal assets and a reduction in the value of its Onca Puma project by $US2.85 billion, $US975 million writedown on its Norsk Hydro stake, and a $US583 million charge on the CSA steel plant. Vale gained 0.9 per cent to 35.45 reais at the close in Sao Paulo on Wednesday. The stock has fallen 17 per cent in the past 12 months, under-performing the 12 per cent decrease in Brazil's benchmark Bovespa Index.