The Study On Suitable Bulk Carrier For China Iron Ore Import

With the rapid development of steel industry of China in recent years, domestic iron ore resources availability is far beyond its ability to meet the needs and importing iron ore from abroad is the inevitable choice. China’s imported iron ore in2012accounted for about65% of the world, which is almost all transported by sea. Especially large ore carriers in recent years have a deep effect on iron ore transportation market. So the study on the development trend of iron ore carrier and its selection under the specific pattern of trade is very important.The paper firstly analyzes the main import and export countries, followed by China’s present situation and trend of iron ore import. Grey forecasting method is used to predict demand for imported iron ore of China. With the main shipping line of China’s iron ore import, the sea transportation framework is obtained. By gathering and statistics of shipping market information, the situation of bulk carriers by size and fleet structure of main dry bulk shipowners is researched in depth, such as the capacity and orderbook. It turns out that there is an upsizing trend of iron ore carriers, as the growth of VLOC fleet is much higher than Capesize. When choosing suitable ship size, ship is not the only factor. Both ship and port’s ability should be comprehensively considered. Cost analysis of different ship size is used as quantitatively study for economy, taking the minimum unit transportation cost as evaluation index. Typical shipping line is taken as an example, in which unit cost is calculated through voyage estimate and sensitivity analysis is done according to different factors. Direct transport and transhipment mode is researched for the selection of suitable carrier. It suggests that although the upsizing of ship can lower unit transportation costs. But when water depth is limited, it does not always turn out better with a bigger ship, as the economies of scale is consumed on different levels in the process of transfer. The actual situation of destination port should be considered for suitable ship size.