Baosteel: First 'Very Large' Iron Ore Carrier In Operation

22nd Jun 2010 08:45

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--Baosteel Group Corp., China's second-largest steelmaker, said in a statement Tuesday it has put into operation the first of what will be a strategic fleet of "very large" iron ore carriers. The new ship has a capacity of 230,000 deadweight tons, it said. Built as part of a strategic cooperation deal by the subsidiaries of Baosteel and China Shipping Group Co., the fleet will comprise four ore carriers with 230,000 tons of capacity each and two carriers each of 300,000 tons capacity, the company had said earlier. In shipping industry terminology, these six carriers would fall under the category of "Very Large Ore Carriers." The fleet is "used to safeguard the ocean carriage of Baosteel's imported bulk raw material and fuel," the company said. Baosteel, the world's third-largest steel mill after ArcelorMittal (MT) and Hebei Iron and Steel Group, depends almost entirely on imported iron ore for its 39-million-metric-ton annual output capacity. -By Chuin-Wei Yap, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 8400 7704; [email protected]. (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 22, 2010 03:45 ET (07:45 GMT)