On the back of the significant increases in iron ore prices, Chinese steel producer Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation (WISCO) has recently commissioned a new ore carrier named China Shipping Hope, with a planned loading capacity of 230,000 mt.
The new vessel, built by China Shipping Co., Ltd, China's state-owned ocean shipping company, is the third VLOC (Very Large Ore Carrier) of the steel producer. WISCO stated that it may build more ore carriers for the transportation of iron ores produced by its overseas subsidiaries.
At present, WISCO's annual iron ore consumption is nearly 30 million mt, with 80 percent of imported resources, among which about 17 million mt is delivered via Beichang port in Zhejiang province-based Ningbo city, China.