CHARTS: The coming critical minerals trade war is BRICS short of a load
"While a large number of countries around the world continue to talk about securing raw material supply, China is actually doing something about it."
400,000 tonnes of dead weight
Then Chinese officials egged on by the country’s shipping firms and steel industry decided to ban the giant vessels – 30 of which have been christened – from the country’s ports over fears of the impact on supply and prices.
Fast forward three years and Beijing’s ban has been effectively lifted after Chinese shipping giant Cosco inked a 25-year freight contract with Vale that involves 14 as Valemax vessels reports the South China Morning Post:
“The current regulation actually already legitimises these vessels to berth at Chinese ports. If you look at how the ban was initiated in the first place, it will be unlikely for the government to make an official announcement with much fanfare that says the ban is loosened,” said an executive at a state-owned port company familiar with the development of iron ore terminals in China.
…”Eventually, the ban will be lifted in a quiet manner. You may see a Valemax ship granted approval by a local maritime authority to dock, and that will be it. Officials realised the ban has hurt China’s economic interests, pushing up the costs for iron ore imports,” the executive said.
During the ban Vale’s Valemax fleet called on ports in Japan, South Korea, Italy and elsewhere, but the company was forced to use transit centres in Africa and a distribution facility in the Philippines to bring ore to its customers in China because of the ban.
The Brazilian giant also built a transshipment facility in Malaysia to service the region. A Valemax also managed to dock at China’s Lianyungang port in April last year and two ports under construction in China would be able to accommodate the vessels.
The full Valemax fleet would be able to haul about 44 million tonnes a year to China, which consumes more than two-thirds of the world’s 1.3 billion tonne seaborne iron ore trade.
Rio de Janeiro-based Vale first decided on the VLOC (very large ore carrier) strategy to help it compete with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals.
Vale plans to up its production and exports by more than 50% before the end of the decade to 490 million tonnes per year on the back of expansions to existing mines and the completion of its 90 million tonne capacity Serra Sul mine in the Carajas region.
After losing market share to its Australian rivals which enjoy much shorter and cheaper routes to Chinese ports, the lifting of the Valemax ban should see it regain lost ground.
Vale’s stated target is to double volumes to China in the next five years.
2 Comments
Tom Smith
China is indeed a sizeable force amongst the many nations. I create things for what I call “humanity”. If it does good for people, I am all for it. The world at large is controlled by a group of wealthy individuals, every one knows that. Instead of trying to work with these people, why don’t we go about it in a different manner? They have distanced themselves from the seven billion people on Earth, so why not pool our efforts as wealthy people that are a tad smarter, a little less greedy, a lot more compassionate and more in tune with the future of mankind on this outpost we call Earth? If we somehow elect a couple of dozen most honored Billionaires, give them the agenda to straighten out the mess that the current misfits have put us under, we would have a good chance to make all of us happier, more prosperous, and run this world the way it was intended from day one. First we force the leaders to resign, followed by the media, the banks, then the phony educational systems, take back the WMDs, the HAARPS, all military units, reschedule the food productions, redesign the cars and trucks, bring in hydrogen powered engines that run perfectly on air, utilize medicine in a more proper way, etc, you get the idea. Private people always have done things better than any government could ever do. These remedies are easy enough to achieve, so let’s get with it. We are running out of time. No, I won’t help.
dakarza
Smart move from chinese gov that is flooding the market with lower-cost foreign iron iron saving billions and its steel industry while waiting the new slim chinese production to get on the market.
In any case, Vale is too optimistic on production targets.