The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has defended the crushed stone aggregate it has on a vessel in the harbour of Vanuatu's capital Port Vila.
The company is the main contractor involved in the redevelopment of Bauerfield airport.
RNZI reports the metal remained on a vessel at Mele Bay amid concerns it could be contaminated with foot and mouth disease.
But the company sought to reassure the people of Vanuatu.
In a statement it said the aggregate was never going to off-loaded, rather it served as ballast to balance the heavy machinery being carried higher on the vessel.
The company said the metal, which it says had been strictly treated to meet quarantine regulations, was to be shipped to other projects it is involved in, in Africa.
However the director of Vanuatu's biosecurity department Timothy Tumukon said the company had earlier told him it had sourced the gravel from China because there was not enough in the region.