A Valemax ship will dock at the Villanueva port in the
Mindanao island, in the Philippines, for the first time in
October. The world's biggest iron ore carrier, with the
capacity to transport up to 400,000 metric tons of iron ore
and capable of reducing carbon emissions by 35% per ton of
ore transported, will be loaded in the Ponta da Madeira
Maritime Terminal, in Maranhão state, Brazil, in September,
and deliver the cargo to Japan's JFE Steel at its
Philippines Sinter Corp (PSC) in Mindanao. JFE is one of
Vale's biggest clients.
This will be the maiden voyage of the ship, called Vale
Minas Gerais. The vessel was the 14th of the Valemax series
to be delivered.
The Valemax ships are part of Vale's strategy to reduce the
economical distance between Brazil and Asia, the main
consumer market for iron ore. With the goal of maximizing
the efficiency of its operations and meet global demand,
Vale conducts several initiatives to achieve greater
economies of scale. The vessels are part of a logistics
solution linking the company's maritime terminals in Brazil
and its Asian and European clients. The very large ore
carriers adhere to strict safety standards and contribute
significantly towards reducing the carbon footprint in the
long haul transportation of iron ore as well as to
reductions in the cost of seaborne transportation of iron
ore to steelmakers.
So far, the Valemax vessels have called at the ports of
Tubarão and Ponta da Madeira (Brazil), Taranto (Italy),
Rotterdam (Netherlands), Sohar (Oman) and Oita (Japan).
They have also regularly called at Vale's
floating transfer station in Subic Bay, in the Philippines.
Mindanao port becomes then a new port destination in
the region. By the end of 2013, there will be a total
of 35 similar vessels available to transport Vale's iron
ore - 19 owned by Vale and 16 chartered from
international shipowners.
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