Thu Apr 12, 2012
SINGAPORE, April 12 (Reuters) - Top iron ore miner Vale said strong demand for the raw material from Asia would justify commissioning more than 100 of its giant Valemax vessels, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.
"A Valemax can make four trips per year, carrying about 1.5 million tonnes per year," the newspaper quoted Jose Carlos Martins, the Brazilian company's head of ore and strategy, as saying.
"Given that Vale exports about 200 million tonnes to Asia, the market would justify more than 100 ships."
Vale sells around 40 percent of its annual iron ore output of about 300 million tonnes to China, the world's biggest buyer of the steelmaking ingredient.
Vale Chief Executive Murilo Ferreira said on Tuesday the company expects Chinese demand for iron ore to stay strong despite expectations of a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.
The first of the Valemaxes, which weigh up to 400,000 deadweight tonnes, began operating late last year. Vale hopes to own and charter 35 by the end of 2013, at a cost of about $4.2 billion.
So far, only one was allowed to berth at a Chinese port before Beijing banned all ships of more than 350,000 deadweight tonnes earlier this year in a bid to protect its own shipping industry.
Last month, Vale said it expects to secure permission "within months" for its Valemaxes to unload at Chinese ports.
Martins said a fleet of more than 100 Valemaxes would help Vale cut shipping costs to China by 20 percent as well as reduce carbon emissions by 35 percent, the newspaper reported.
(Writing by Manolo Serapio Jr.; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
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