August 31, 2016

Trade routes

This section outlines shipping routes for the following global trades: iron ore coal grain oil containers    Natural Incidents that had an impact on Bulk Trades – During the devastating tsunami in Japan in 2011, the cooling system at the Fukushima nuclear powerstation failed, causing a serious problem at the powerstation, […]
October 28, 2016

Iron Ore

Iron Ore Trades – Brazil, north-western Australia and South Africa are among the major producers of iron ore that is moved in Capesize ships to China, Japan, Korea, Europe and numerous other industrialised countries that produce significant amounts of steel. From 2001 to 2008, a surge in Chinese steel production brought […]
October 28, 2016

Coal

Coal Trades – Steam coal is used for powerstations, while higher quality coal is used mainly in the steel industry. An annual increase in demand for steam coal occurs from September to February to meet the need for greater electricity generation during the northern hemisphere’s cold and dark winter months. This […]
October 28, 2016

Grain

Grain Trades – Whenever a drought occurs, additional grain needs to be imported. The drought in South Africa during the 2015-2016 summer grain growing season resulted in the country needing about 4 million tons of additional grain, most of which was imported from Argentina. This swelled the demand for handysize bulkers […]