Photo by: Reuters
VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The world’s largest iron-ore producer, Vale, has sold another two of its 400 000-deadweight-tonne vessels for about $178-million, the Brazilian company reported on Wednesday.
The vessels were delivered on Tuesday to nominees of Bank of Communications Finance Leasing (Bocomm).
Vale added that it was negotiating the sale of its remaining two very large ore carriers, which is consistent with its strategy of strengthening its balance sheet and focusing on core assets.
Vale has been in the process of selling its ore carriers for several years now, as it sets out to raise cash and improve relations with China's shipping companies, which had previously lobbied to block access of the ships to Chinese ports.
The vessels are some of the largest ships ever built and were designed to help reduce the cost of shipping ore to China from Brazil, helping Vale better compete with Australian rivals who are closer to the largest market for the steelmaking ingredient.