Rongsheng Heavy Anticipates Delivery of 11 Super-Ore Ships by Year’s End for VALE

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)–China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Ltd. (1101.HK)–China’s biggest non state-owned shipbuilder by order book–said Tuesday it expects to deliver this year the bulk of a dozen supersized vessels ordered by Brazilian miner Vale S.A. (VALE).

Rongsheng Chief Executive Chen Qiang said the company plans to deliver two supersized vessels–originally due for delivery last year–to Vale within the next two months and all but one of the remaining supervessels by the end of the year. The final ship will be delivered in 2013. The first was delivered in November.

The Valemax ships–a class also known as “very large ore carriers”, or VLOCs–have a capacity of 400,000 deadweight tons. The larger vessels can help reduce the Brazilian miner’s shipping costs to China.

Chen said the company received a total of US$1.8 billion in new orders in 2011 and expects to secure more than that this year.

-By Joanne Chiu, Dow Jones Newswires

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