Top iron ore producer Vale said it has delivered
382,500 tonnes of iron ore via one its giant Valemax ships to a new storage and
distribution centre in Malaysia, as the Brazilian miner moves closer to China,
its biggest market.
The iron ore to be unloaded from the Berge Everest
ship will be stored in the Teluk Rubiah terminal for future commercial
shipments, Vale said in a statement on its website on Monday.
The Malaysian distribution hub, built at a cost of
$1.37 billion, is expected to be completed by the second half of 2014, said.
Vale invested billions of dollars in the
400,000-deadweight-tonne Valemax vessels, the world's largest dry bulk carriers,
to cut transport costs to China and to better compete with Australian rivals Rio
Tinto and BHP Billiton.
But China banned the Valemax ships in January 2012,
to protect its own shipping industry, and about a month after the first of the
giant vessels docked at Dalian port. There are currently 30 Valemax ships in
operation, Vale said.
The firm's efforts to persuade Chinese authorities
to allow its Valemax ships access to Chinese ports suffered a setback in
February when China's transportation ministry set a maximum capacity of 250,000
dwt for ships berthing in the country.
The Malaysian terminal will cut Vale's transport
costs by $4-$5 a tonne, smaller than the $7 it would save per tonne if the
Valemax ships were able to ship cargoes directly to China.
Apart from the Malaysian center, the miner also has
two floating transfer stations in the Philippines.
Source: Reuters
Related links:
Vale: Will Soon Build Inventory at Teluk Rubiah
Distribution Center in Malaysia
(2014-03-03)
Vale's Giant Ore Carriers Continue to Be Shunned by
China (2014-02-17)
Malaysian Integrax Still in Talks with Vale on
Transshipment Port
(2013-12-09)
Vale: Distribution Centre in Malaysia Will Shorten
the Distance between Vale and Clients in Asia
(2013-03-11)
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