Since September 2011, the Port of Sohar in Oman has had a new iron ore terminal, built for Vale’s operations.
Sohar’s strategic location, in deep waters outside the Persian Gulf, allows Vale to take Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOC) – with a capacity of 400,000 metric tons – from Brazil to the port. From there, the iron ore can be distributed in smaller ships to nearby countries.
Besides Sohar, only nine ports across the world are capable of accommodating very large bulk carriers such as the VLOC variety.