China's Qingdao Port Group expects to start operations at its 400,000-tonne iron ore terminal at Dongjiakou Port this year, the group's chairman said on Wednesday, adding it has not been approached by Vale regarding access for the Brazilian miner's giant vessels, Reuters reports.

"We will accelerate the construction of the 400,000-tonne iron ore terminal and expect to start operations this year," Chang Dechuan told reporters on the sidelines of an annual parliamentary session in Beijing.
When completed, the iron ore terminal would have an annual capacity of 40 million tonnes and Dongjiakou would be the first Chinese port that would officially have the technical capacity to receive Vale's huge dry bulk ships, also known as Valemaxes.
Other major ports which have the potential to handle Valemaxes includes Dalian port, which earlier said it had upgraded facilities at its 300,000-tonne iron ore berth to meet "the requirements for large-sized vessels to dock as well as the needs for transshipment".
However, Chang said Vale had not approached the company on getting port access for its 400,000 deadweight-tonnes iron ore carriers.
China last month banned its ports from receiving big vessels that exceed their approved capacity, effectively barring Vale from sending any more Valemaxes to its biggest iron ore customer.
Qingdao Port plans to invest a total of 30 billion yuan ($4.76 billion) in Dongjiakou port between 2011-2015, to tap growing demand for coal, oil and iron ore.
It aims to increase its total throughput to 400 million tonnes this year from 370 million tonnes in 2011, including a 130 million tonnes capacity for iron ore, which would mark a 30 percent increase from last year, Chang said.