Chinese shipping firm inks deal with Vale

A large shipping company in east China signed an iron ore transport deal on Thursday, with the world's top iron ore miner Vale, worth over 500 million U.S. dollars, company sources said.

Shandong Shipping Corporation also inked a strategic cooperation agreement with the Brazilian giant here in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, where Shandong Shipping is based.

Under the deals, Vale have delivered four 400,000-tonne ore vessels to an alliance initiated by Shandong Shipping to operate.

Established in 2010, Shandong Shipping has 24 vessels including those under construction with a total of over 4 million dead weight tonnage.

Previously, the Chinese company has signed a ten year deal with BHP Billiton.