Kuala Lumpur: Brazilian miner Vale has inaugurated a $1.4bn transhipment terminal in Malaysia. The blending facility at Teluk Rubiah on the Malacca Strait was designed and built in reaction to a ban by Beijing on Vale’s slew of giant bulkers, dubbed valemaxes, calling in China, a ban that now seems to be nearly over.  

The facility, coupled with the commissioning of more valemaxes, should enable Vale to save $3 to $5 a ton on costs, according to Andreas Bokkenheuser, an analyst at UBS.

The Teluk Rubiah center, in Lumut, Perak state, north of Kuala Lumpur, can receive and export 30m tons a year, and has three unloaders, one loader and five storage yards. Eight valemaxes have already called at the terminal.