Vale mega-ship docks in Philippines

The Vale Minas Gerais, the world's largest iron-ore carrier, docked for the first time at the Port of Villanueva in the Philippines, the company said in a statement. Rio de Janeiro-based Vale, the world's No. 2 mining company, said the Singapore-flagged Vale Minas Gerais is on its maiden voyage. Ore from the 400,000 deadweight-ton "Valemax" vessel, which is bigger than three standard soccer fields laid end to end, was received by Japan's JFE Steel which has a sintering plant at the port. The plant processes iron ore into a form that JFE's steelmaking blast furnaces can use.