Vale may be looking to offload some of its very large ore carriers (VLOCs), according to finance chief Tito Martins.

Tito Martins.
In an interview with Reuters, the Brazilian mining giant’s top lieutenant said the company is in talks to sell some of the 400,000-dwt leviathans that aren’t already operated by third parties.

"We are in the mining business, not the shipping business," he added when pressed about the future of a programme that expects to see 35 of the vessels in the water by 2013.

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