Vale Fuel Consumption of China-Korea Shipyard in Vale

A spokesman for Vale said: “Our voyage-based data shows that the VLOC fuel consumption and efficiency of both Chinese-made and Korean-made fuels are similar, which is in line with our expectations, because they are all made according to similar requirements.”

Vale issued this statement in response to a previous report by JPMorgan. The investment bank’s report said that based on an index called “Existing Ship Design Index”, the fuel consumption of Korean-made VLOCs is 17% lower than that of Chinese-made VLOCs.

The report released in mid-November compared the data of VLOC produced by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Rongsheng Heavy Industries.

The two shipyards are two of the four shipyards that currently hold orders for 400,000 tons of bulk carriers. Vale plans to build up to 36 VLOC fleets to reduce transportation costs.

Rongsheng Heavy Industry also responded to JP Morgan's report. At a meeting held on December 2nd, the company invited the president of the Shanghai Ship Design and Research Institute and other experts to refute JP Morgan's conclusions.

Hu Hu Jintao, Dean of the Shanghai Ship Research and Design Institute, said: “Our findings did not reveal the gap (fuel consumption) that JPMorgan Chase claimed. If there is a difference of 17%, I think the shipowners will come to us and they will definitely demand that we The design has been substantially modified, but this did not happen."