China’s commitment to invest in the Brazilian iron ore industry could potentially help the South American nation to surpass Australia in the commodity’s output, according to media reports.
News reports said Brazil could increase iron ore production at Vale from 300 million mt to 450 million mt by 2018. The volume is greater than the combined production of the two major producers in Australia: BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
Vale has also announced in the last few days the sale of eight very large ore carriers (VLOCs) to Chinese companies. In 2014, Vale accounted for 18 percent of all iron ore supplied to China, while Australia dominated the shipment of the product with a 60 percent share, according to news reports.