Seoul: HMM Co., South Korea's largest shipping company, has announced a significant 430 billion-won (US$309 million) transportation agreement with Vale S.A., Brazil's leading mining corporation. Under this agreement, HMM will utilize five bulk carriers to transport iron ore for Vale, the world's foremost producer of iron ore and nickel, from April 2026 through March 2036.

According to Yonhap News Agency, this new 10-year contract follows a previous 636 billion-won agreement that HMM secured with Vale in May for iron ore shipping. A spokesperson from HMM emphasized that securing stable volumes of bulk-carrying contracts will help mitigate fluctuations in the container-shipping market and bolster the company's growth.

HMM, which currently operates 90 container carriers, has traditionally concentrated on container shipping but is now planning to diversify into bulk ships and roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessels for vehicle transport in the coming years. The company has set a target to expand its bulk fleet to 110 vessels by 2030, up from the current 50, and to add seven ro-ro ships by the end of the next year.

In 2002, HMM sold all of its ro-ro ships, but the company has recently re-entered this market segment by adding the first of the seven planned vessels to its bulk fleet earlier this month, marking a comeback after a 23-year hiatus.