According to Valor Economico, Mr Jose Carlos Martins, the executive in charge of Brazilian giant Vale's ferrous operations, expects the company's Valemax ships to start docking in China in 2013.
Brazil-based Vale has so far received 18 of the 35 vessels it has ordered from Korean and Chinese shipbuilders. But they have been drifting aimlessly since May last year because China, by far Vale's biggest customer, granted port entry to a single vessel but subsequently banned anything over 300,000 tonnes.
Worth over USD100 million each, the dry bulk carriers are 362 metres in length, with a beam of 65 metres and the capacity to carry over 400,000 dead weight tonnes of iron ore.
Currently, 80% of the world's iron ore is borne by so-called Capesize vessels, which can only carry a third of the cargo of a Valemax.
Martins said that Vale may open a distribution center in China responsible for consuming almost 60% of the seaborne iron ore trade next year.
The Rio de Janeiro-based company was force to use a transit center in Africa to bring ore to its customers in China because of the ban.
In December 2011, a ship (rather unfortunately called the Vale 'Beijing') ruptured its hull and temporarily blocked a port from where Vale ships more than 130 million tonnes per annum.
Source: www.mining.com
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