(Yicai Global) Sept. 6 -- Vale, the world's largest iron ore producer, and Yantai Port in China's Shandong province have agreed to deepen cooperation and provide quality iron ore to key customers in China and other Asian markets, the Shanghai Securities News reported. 

Under the deal signed today, Vale and Yantai Port will jointly innovate to promote the sales of Vale's premium iron ore products, including Brazilian Blend Fines, the report said.

Vale trails Australian miner BHP in its bid to expand in the Chinese market because of the big distance between Brazil and China. The Rio de Janeiro-based company started its own transportation business a few years ago, building a 400,000-ton super-large ore carrier.

But China's port capacity is limited, with only four ports capable of docking 400,000-ton cargo ships: Dalian, Tangshan, Qingdao and Zhoushan. Dalian and Qingdao each have only one such docking berth, Tangshan has two. Only Ningbo has three docks.

Yantai Port and Fuzhou Port each have a berth designed to dock 300,000-ton ships, but can also take 400,000-ton vessels.

Yantai Port occupies a strategic position in the estuary of China's Bohai Bay and is expected to become the main Brazilian Blend Fines hub for China, Japan and other Asian markets. It has a significant location advantage and a berth that can handle super-large ore carriers. It has provided fine blending services for Vale since 2015, according to the report.