VLOC Owner Still Pushing for Access to China

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday December 5, 2012

Brazilian mining giant Vale SA [NYSE:VALE] (Vale) is still looking for a way to get access to Chinese ports for its very large ore carriers (VLOCs), the business news site BNA Americas reports.

China's transport ministry announced in early February that ports would not be able to accept many of the vessels, a decision analysts said might stop Vale from making full use of its VLOCs, although Vale said its Asia shipments would not be affected.

At a recent meeting with investors, Vale's director of iron ore and strategy, José Carlos Martins, said discussions with China on the topic are continuing.

"We kept our commercial contacts with ship-owners and local companies, as well as diplomatic talks with the Chinese government to resolve the VLOCs question," Martins said.

"If we manage to dock our vessels in China, it would be good news for our local customers.

"However, our structure in Asia, with our distribution centers in the Philippines, Malaysia and Oman has resolved the issue about sending iron ore from Brazil to China."

Vale has said it plans to have a fleet of 35 of the new 400,000 dead weight tonne (dwt) VLOCs, which are larger and more fuel-efficient than previous ore carriers, by the end of 2013.

The China Ship owners' Association (CSA) has questioned the ship's safety, and there are also concerns that the large ship volume could undermine China's control of imports.

Ship & Bunker News Team
To contact the editor responsible for this story email us at editor@shipandbunker.com