Brazil's Vale says building 16 iron ore carriers

LONDON Nov 17 (Reuters) - Brazilian iron ore miner Vale (VALE5.SA) said on Tuesday that it was building 16 vessels with a capacity of 400,000 tonnes each to carry iron ore between Brazil and Asia.

"The first one will come to service by the end of next year," said Renato Neves, president Vale International and Global Iron Ore Director. "We'll use these vessels to reduce our transportation costs to Brazil from China," he said.

Vale was operating at nearly full capacity at the moment and was expected to continue to do so next year with the market seen tightening, Neves told a Metal Bulletin steel conference.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Editing by Keiron Henderson)