Vale of Brazil, the second-largest mining company in the world, sent an iron ore ship heading for China to Italy to supply Ilva instead of going to Dalian in China. The company said that there was no political or technical problem but the re-routing was undertaken to finalize talks on future port deals in China.
The 391,000 tonnes of iron ore on The Vale Brasil are now headed to Taranto in Italy. Vale Brasil is the largest dry bulk vessel in the world.
Pedro Gutemberg, the global director of marketing for Vale said that the decision was a purely commercial issue. As per the company statement the alteration of the destination is part of the flexibility in Vale's integrated logistics policy that allows Vale to reallocate the destination of exports, based on the needs of the market. Mr Gutemberg said that the move was symbolic to show customer in Europe and worldwide that the Valemax ships were not just made for China.
Vale had mentioned earlier in the year that it had not got permission for its Chinamax and Valemax vessels to enter the Chinese ports fully loaded. The statement also said that it expected its Vale China, the first ship of the Valemax class that was produced in China and financed by Chinese institutions would also have a Chinese port as its first destination.