Vale plans to expand its fleet to increase shipments of iron ore

One of Brazil's largest iron ore producers, Vale, plans to buy new ships to double its iron ore shipments to China over the next five years. Vale's head of marketing, Jose Carlos Martin, said that with the increase in iron ore exports, from a financial point of view, the company should have hired or bought many more ships a long time ago, expanding its fleet. He said the company plans to export 400 million tonnes of iron ore a year, well above the 270 million tonnes exported in 2013.

In 2011, the Brazilian company Vale began using its Valemax vessels, the largest carriers of iron ore in the world, which can significantly reduce shipping costs to the Asian market. But the company has never been able to convince Chinese port authorities to allow ships to anchor in Chinese ports, which do not allow for security reasons and to prevent impact on supply and price. Because of this, Vale is using transit centers in Africa and the Philippines to ship iron ore to China, and is building a plant in Malaysia to serve the region.

The world's largest iron ore producer is also considering buying or renting 230 additional ships for the Valemax fleet to keep up with the growth. Vale currently owns 35 Valemax-class ships and has a 12-14 percent share of the Chinese iron ore market. At the same time, the company is likely to lease new Valemax. Most of the Valemax ships currently in the company's fleet were built in Chinese shipyards.