Brazil’s mining giant Vale has sold four very large freight-carrying ships – known as mega freighters – to a Chinese consortium for US$423 million, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported last week.

The purchasing consortium is led by ICBC Financial Leasing, a subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The four freighters were among 11 very large ore carrying vessels – known as Valemax ships – being put up for sale by Vale with the aim of raising US$1.1 billion, the news agency added. The cash-strapped mining giant previously used the vessels – with a capacity of up to 400,000 tons – to transport iron ore from Brazil to European and Asian ports.

In the third quarter of this year, Vale reported a loss of 6.66 billion reais (US$1.72 billion at current exchange rates). The loss had led the firm to cut back on investments and sell shares, Xinhua reported.