Brazil-based mining giant Vale is planning to launch a transshipment hub for iron ore distribution at Subic Bay in the Philippines in the current month.
The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) has announced that the two parties had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the issue in September. Vale will use a purposely-designed floating terminal to be located in Subic Bay to carry out iron ore transshipment operations from its larger ore carrying vessels (up to 400,000 mt) to smaller vessels or feeders, so that the company will be able to provide a better service to Asian countries, specifically to China. The Vale group is also considering building an onshore facility at Subic Bay for the storage of raw materials such as coal.
Some analysts stated that Vale has to build a transshipment hub near China since it failed to establish iron ore distribution centers at the ports of Qingdao and Dalian in China. At the same time, from Subic Bay Vale will be able to supply iron ore to other Asian customers including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.