32. Employee benefits

a) Profit sharing program (“PLR”)

The Company recorded as cost of goods sold and services rendered and other operating expenses related to the profit sharing program US$628, US$611 and US$557 for the years ended on December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Compensation Associated with ESG Performance Targets

Currently, the Company aligns the compensation programs with the business strategy and the objective of making Vale a safer company. Since 2020, the Company has been following new standards for executive compensation. For short-term compensation, at least 30% of performance targets are driven by ESG metrics and directly related to safety, risk management and sustainability targets.

b) Share-based payments

For the long-term incentive programs, the Company compensation plans include Matching Program and Performance Share Unit program (“PSU”), with three-year-vesting cycles, respectively, with the aim of encouraging employee’s retention and encouraging their performance. The fair value of the programs is recognized on a straight-line basis in the income statement, with a corresponding entry in equity, over the three-year required service period, net of estimated losses.

Matching Program

For the Matching program, the participants can acquire Vale’s common shares in the market. If the shares acquired are held for a period of three years, obeying the program rules, the participant is entitled to receive from Vale an award in shares, equivalent to the number of shares originally acquired.

The fair value of the Matching program was estimated using the Company's share price and ADR and the number of shares granted on the grant date.

Performance Shares Units (“PSU”)

Under the PSU, eligible executives can earn, after a three-year vesting cycle, an award in common shares conditioned to Vale's performance factor measured based on Total Shareholder Return ("TSR"), ROIC and Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") metrics.

The fair value of the PSU program was measured by estimating the performance factor using Monte Carlo simulations for the Return to Shareholders Indicator and health and safety and sustainability indicators. The assumptions used for the Monte Carlo simulations are shown in the table below, as well as the result used to calculate the expected value of the total performance factor.

c) Employee post-retirement obligation

In Brazil, the management of the pension plans is the responsibility of Fundação Vale do Rio Doce de Seguridade Social (“Valia”) a nonprofit entity with administrative and financial autonomy. The Brazilian plans are as follows:

Benefit plan Vale Mais (“Vale Mais”) and benefit plan Valiaprev (“Valiaprev”) - The Company's employees participating in Valia are associated, for the most part, with the Vale Mais plan, which has a defined benefit component (settled benefit from the former Defined Benefits Plan and specific benefit to cover death, disability retirement and sickness benefit) and defined contribution component (for programmable benefits). The Valiaprev plan is similar to the Vale Mais plan, with the exception of not having the benefit settled and the sickness benefit. Both Vale Mais and Valiaprev plans were overfunded as of December 31, 2025 and 2024.

Defined benefit plan (“Plano BD”) - The Plano BD is closed to new entrants since 2000, when the Vale Mais plan was implemented. It is a plan that has defined benefit characteristics, covering almost exclusively retirees and their beneficiaries. It was overfunded as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 and the contributions made by the Company are not material.

“Abono complementação” benefit plan - The Company sponsors a specific group of former employees entitled to receive additional benefits from Valia regular payments. The “Abono complementação” benefit was overfunded as of December 31, 2025 and 2024.

Other benefits - The Company sponsors medical plans for employees that meet specific criteria and for employees who use the “abono complementação” benefit. Although those benefits are not specific retirement plans, actuarial calculations are used to calculate future obligations. As those benefits are related to health care plans they have nature of underfunded benefits, and are presented as underfunded plans as of December 31, 2025 and 2024.

The foreign plans are managed in accordance with their region. They are divided between plans in Canada, USA and UK. Pension plans in Canada are composed of a defined benefit and defined contribution component. Currently the defined benefit plans do not allow new entrants. The majority of foreign defined benefit plans are underfunded as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 and just two overfunded plans as of December 31, 2025 and 2024.

In December 2023, the Company entered into annuity contracts to transfer US$836 of pension plan obligations and its associated assets. This transaction triggered a settlement and remeasurement of the pension plan, and as a result, the Company recognized a non-cash loss of US$5 in the income statement as “Other expenses”, measured by the difference between the premium and the obligations transferred.

Employers’ disclosure about pensions and other post-retirement benefits on the status of the defined benefit elements of all plans is provided as follows.

i. Evolution of present value obligation

ii. Evolution of assets fair value

iii. Reconciliation of assets and liabilities recognized in the statement of financial position

iv. Costs recognized in the income statement

v. Costs recognized in the statement of comprehensive income

vi. Risks related to plans

The Administrators of the plans have committed to strategic planning to strengthen internal controls and risk management. This obligation is achieved by conducting audits and assessments of internal controls, which aim to mitigate operational market and credit risks. Risks are presented as follow:

Legal - Lawsuits: issuance of periodic reports to the audit and Board of Directors, including the lawyers' analysis of the chances of success (remote, probable or possible), focusing on the administrative decision on provisions. Promote and monitor adaptations to new legal obligations and monitor compliance with established legal obligations. Due diligence of third parties from the perspective of the Integrity Program.

Actuarial - The annual actuarial evaluation of the benefit plans comprises the assessment of taxes, income and adequacy of the costing plans. Technical study of compliance with the assumptions adopted in the actuarial evaluation of benefit plans prepared by an external actuary, in accordance with current legislation. Monitoring of biometric, demographic and economic-financial assumptions.

Market – Technical allocation studies are carried out with the objective of evaluating investment portfolios of the different obligations of the plans and projecting the future result of these portfolios. Asset Liability Management studies are carried out for defined benefit type obligations (Asset Liability Management study), while for defined contribution type obligations there are efficient frontier studies (investment profiles) and glidepath (life cycles). Periodic monitoring of the plans' short-term market risk based on risk indicators (VaR - Value at Risk, Benchmark VaR, Maximum Drawdown, Stress Tests, among others).

Credit - Risk classification of securities from corporate and bank issuers based on quantitative and qualitative assessments of the credit risk of the issuer, the asset and its guarantees, from acquisition to maturity. This internal rating sensitizes provisions for credit risk losses, as well as verified defaults, in accordance with current legislation. Provisions for loan losses with participants are realized based on default verified in payments.

Liquidity - Technical study of the liquidity of plans with defined benefit obligations, focusing on the long term, whose objective is to verify the sufficiency of the assets in fulfilling the plan's obligations. Monitoring of short-term liquidity with a focus on cash available to meet plan obligations for the coming years. The defined contribution bond portfolios (investment profiles and life cycles) have assets available for sale at any time in normal market situations.

vii. Actuarial and economic assumptions and sensitivity analysis

All calculations involve future actuarial projections about some parameters, such as: salaries, interest, inflation, mortality and disability.

The economic and actuarial assumptions adopted have been formulated considering the long-term period for maturity and should therefore be analyzed accordingly. In the short term they may not be realized.

The following assumptions were adopted in the assessment:

For the sensitivity analysis, the Company applies the effect of 1.0% in nominal discount rate to the present value of the Company´s actuarial liability. The effects of this analysis on the Company´s actuarial liability and assumptions adopted are as follows:

viii. Assets of pension plans

Brazilian plan assets as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 includes respectively (i) investments in a portfolio of Vale’s share and other instruments in the amount of US$0 and US$23, which are presented as “plans' own portfolio” and (ii) Brazilian Federal Government securities in the amount of US$4,965 and US$3,945, which are presented as “Debt securities - governments”.

Foreign plan assets as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 includes Canadian Government securities in the amount of US$866 and US$507, respectively.

ix. Assets by category

Assets by category are as follows:

(i) Financial investments not related to coverage of plans. Funds are related to the Company´s unconsolidated entities and former employees.

Measurement of plan assets at fair value with no observable market variables (level 3) are as follows:

x. Disbursement of future cash flow

Vale expects to disburse US$57 in 2026 in relation to pension plans and other benefits.

xi. Expected benefit payments

The expected benefit payments, which reflect future services, are as follows: