China's strong demands for iron ores have boosted the growth of
international marine transportation markets, but its domestic
shipping business has not benefited from this success.
Many people agree that while the Chinese shipping business is
large, it is still not a fully developed industrial sector. With a
total tramp fleet capacity of up to 100 million tons, China cannot
find enough ships suitable for transporting iron ores from its
allied iron-rich countries such as Australia and Brazil. Therefore,
Chinese steel makers have to turn their eyes overseas and have
signed most of their contracts with foreign shipping companies from
Japan, Europe, South Korea, and other developed countries.
Consequently, they are facing more pressures from soaring
production costs.
For more details, please read the full story in Chinese. (http://www.chinabusinesspost.net/showArticle.php?ID=9726)
(China.org.cn August 6 2007)
