Vale invests US$ 2.9 billion in the Port of São Luís

Vale reported future investments amounting to US$ 2.9 billion to change the private terminal of Ponta da Madeira, São Luís (MA), into the largest port of country in terms of capacity and cargo moving volume by 2012.

These investments will be directed to the installation of a new berthing pier and dredging works, which increase the depth of the navigation canal. The contributions also include the duplication of Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC) railroad.

According to Vale, the port will provide an additional option for the three current ports operating in the South/Southeast regions: Rio Grande (RS), Paranaguá (PR) and Santos (SP). In addition to increasing the volume of ore iron to be transferred by the port, the moving of grain goods will have in Ponta da Madeira a major base for carrying soy and corn goods produced in the Northeast (especially in Maranhão and Piauí), North (Tocantins) and Midwest regions. These products will be transported by Ferrovia Norte Sul (FNS) railroad, operated by Vale, in connection with Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC) railroad, as informed by the company.

According to Vale, the new pier – which is the fourth in the terminal – will increase the capacity at Ponta da Madeira to 150 million tons by 2012, which is sufficient to receive cargo ships between 150,000 and 400,000 tons. According to the mining company, the pier will provide capacity to receive and load two ships simultaneously. Today, the port already is one of the largest ones in the world and the only to fully load the grain carrier Berge Stahl (346,000 tons), and now, Vale Brasil (400,000 metric tons).

The port expansion is included in the scope of the expansion program of the north mountain range of Carajás, which has provisions for an additional volume of 30 million tons of iron ore until 2012.

Vale also informed that the first loading of the cargo ship Vale Brasil occurred today in Ponta da Madeira, which is the largest ore cargo ship in the world, according to the mining company.

The total volume – 391,000 tons of iron ore has been shipped to a port in Dalian, China.