China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) signed a 25-year agreement worth at least 2.8 billion USD covering six very large ore carriers (VLOCs), locking in Simandou iron ore shipping capacity.
Its dry bulk arm Hong Kong Ming Wah inked the deal; the counterparty was not named, but CMES said in July Ming Wah would contract with China Mineral Resources Group International Supply Chain, holder of Simandou shipping rights, having already carried about 600,000 tonnes of the ore. Freight runs under a 25-year contract of affreightment tied to a Baltic Exchange route index with a cost-adjustment mechanism.
It complements CMES’s order of six 343,000-dwt ore carriers for up to 4.93 billion RMB (728 million USD) at China Merchants Shipbuilding, delivering 2029-2030, its first new VLOC tonnage in over a decade. Simandou targets up to 120 million tonnes of high-grade ore a year at full ramp-up.
Source: news.metal.com