Vale Pens Cooperation Deal with Qingdao Port

China’s Qingdao Port has inked an agreement with Brazilian mining giant Vale to establish a sister-port relationship with Vale’s Ponta da Madeira Port in order to boost iron trade between the two terminals.

The agreement stipulates bolstering of cooperation on port development planning, operations management, process optimization and increasing of productivity along with utilization and promotion of green technologies and energy saving solutions.

The deal also includes cooperation on exchange of information, best practices and studies, along with promotion of maritime routes between the two countries.

Ponta da Madeira terminal, located in northeastern Brazil, is one of the main ports for shipping cargo from Vale’s Carajas mines.

The port of Qingdao, located on the east coast of northern China, receives more than 100m tonnes of iron ore a year, Vale said.

Earlier this year, Vale’ Tubarão Port, in Brazil, and Lianyungang Port, in China, signed a similar agreement to boost productivity of their operations, exchange knowledge on safety and  develop technologies aimed at cutting energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Vale also signed a deal with China Merchants Group  in Beijing on September 26 under which Vale will lease ten very large ore carriers to be built by China Merchants for a period of 25 years.

The VLOCs will be used to transport Vale’s iron ore from Brazil to China.