China maintains ban on giant ore carriers

[SINGAPORE] China will only allow ships with capacity of up to 250,000 deadweight tonnes to berth at its ports from July 1, its transport ministry said, effectively keeping a ban on Brazilian miner Vale's huge iron ore vessels in place since January 2012.

It would be the latest setback for the world's top iron ore producer which has been hoping that China would lift the ban aimed at shielding its shippers.

Vale invested more than US$2 billion to build several 400,000-dwt vessels to slash transport costs to China by up to a third and better compete with Australian rivals Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.