STX wins major ore carrier order

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in Korea has signed a single contract for the construction of eight 400,000 DWT very large ore carriers (VLOC). The contract is valued at about $879.8 million. Delivery of the eight vessels will be completed by September 2012.

Although STX did not disclose the customer, it seems probable that it is STX Pan Ocean. In September STX Pan Ocean was widely reported to have secured a $5.84 billion contract from Brazilian mining giant Vale to ship 3 billion tonnes of iron ore from Brazil to China over a 25-year period starting in 2011.

Recently, STX Pan Ocean Co., Ltd. announced that it had successfully launched and priced an issue of Convertible Bonds (Offering) to raise $200 million. The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes and to fund part of the purchase price of newly built vessels.