Rio Tinto to acquire three 250,000 DWT iron ore carriers; plans capacity hike

Mumbai: Mining giant Rio Tinto is acquiring three 250 000 deadweight tonne carriers to transport iron ore from its mines in the Pilbara, Western Australia (and potentially from Simandou in Guinea) to customers in China and elsewhere.

The three vessels will cost a total of about US$315 million.

Delivery of the vessels, to be built by Japan's Namura Shipyards, would start by late 2012. The group has reserved rights to order another two vessels of similar size, Rio Tinto said in a release.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore, meanwhile, is expanding capacity at its Pilbara mines to 220 million tonnes by 2009, supported by long term contracts, hybrid contracts and spot sales.

Exports to China, its biggest iron ore consumer, has grown substantially in recent years and are forecast to continue to grow strongly with the potential to more than double post 2010.

Rio Tinto said its exceptional growth strategy in iron ore and its strong pricing outlook would allow the group to treble production to over 600 million tonnes of iron ore per annum from Australia and Guinea.