Dalian Port has concluded a logistics cooperation agreement with Brazil's mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, or Vale, to distribute 5 million to 10 million tons of ironores annually until the end of 2020.

    The port will provide such services as upload, ore mixing, storage and redistribution. Dalian Port has a subsidiary ore terminal with an annual berthing capability of 20 million tons. The present 4.6-million-ton storage capacity can be increased to 6 million tons after the completion of its third storehouse.

    China has become the biggest and most important ore importer of Vale, who sold 70 million tons of iron ores to China in 2006 and around 100 million tons in 2007.

    Zhu Kai, president of Vale China, said that Vale's output this year would exceed 300 million tons, one third of which would be shipped to China.