Shanghai: In a major move, Chinese shipbuilder Rongsheng Shipbuilding and Heavy Industry has announced a $1.6 billion order by Brazilian iron ore miner Vale for 12 ore carriers. Each of the ore carriers will have a capacity of 400,000 deadweight tonnes, making them the biggest of their kind in the world according to the announcement from the company.
Vale announced it will use the new vessels to create a "dedicated route" to ship the company's iron ore from Brazil to Asia. The first of the ore carriers are due for delivery in 2011 with the remainder being completed one year later. The major order will create a fleet under the Vale name with a combined capacity of 30.2m metric tons of iron ore per year. The move will enable Vale's larger ships to be used on the Brazil-China route which will result in a reduction in shipping costs and making its iron ore more competitive with ore deposits in India and Australia.
Vale is the second-largest mining company after Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton. [04/08/08]
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