Bulk cargo is product cargo that is transported packaging in large quantities.
Description
Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate (as a mass of relatively small solids) form, such as
petroleum/
crude oil,
cereal,
coal, or
gravel. This cargo is usually dropped or poured, with a spout or shovel bucket, into a
bulk carrier ship's hold, railroad car/
railway wagon, or
tanker truck/trailer/
semi-trailer body. Smaller quantities can be
(or drummed) and
; cargo packaged in this manner is referred to as
breakbulk cargo.
Bulk cargo is classified as
liquid or
dry goods.
Baltic Exchange is based in London and provides a range of indices benchmarking the cost of moving bulk commodities, dry and wet, along popular routes around the seas. Some of these indices are also used to settle Freight Futures, known as FFA's. The most famous of the Baltic indices is the Baltic Dry Indices, commonly called the BDI. This is a derived function of the Baltic Capesize index (BCI), Baltic Panamax index (BPI), Baltic Supramax index (BSI) and the Baltic Handysize index (BHSI). The BDI has been used as a bellwether for the global economy as it can be interpreted as an indicator of an increase or decrease in the amount of raw commodities countries are importing/exporting.
Dry
Dry bulk is any cargo carried in bulk in
solid form. Such carriage is often referred to as the "dry" trades.
They would include:
-
Bauxite
-
Bulk minerals (sand, gravel, copper, limestone, salt)
-
-
Chemicals (fertilizer, plastic and Pelletizing, resin powder, synthetic fiber)
-
Coal
-
Food (for or : alfalfa pellets, citrus pellets, livestock Fodder, flour, , raw or Sugar refinery, or .)
-
Cereal (wheat, maize, rice, barley, , rye, sorghum, , etc.)
-
Iron (ferrous and non-ferrous ores, , pig iron, scrap metal, Pelletizing taconite)
-
Wood chips
Wet
Liquid bulk cargo includes any cargo carried in closed tanks and poured or pumped into the carrying vessel, such as:
Gallery
File:BFIX 520 20050716 Illinois Railway Museum.JPG|A milk tank car for bulk loading.
Image:LO DME 49328.jpg|DME 49328, a covered hopper owned and operated by the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad
Image:Heyl_&_Patterson_Rotary_Railcar_Dumper.jpg|A rotary car dumper
Image:Schüttgutbeladung eines Feederschiffs mit Rapsschrot.jpg|Bulk loading of a feeder ship with rapeseed meal
File:Gabarit AAR Plate-C.png
Specialized large ports
-
Port of Port Hedland, Australia
-
Port of Rotterdam
-
Port of Vancouver
-
Port of Liverpool
-
Port of Tyne
-
Port of Amsterdam
-
Port of Hamilton (Canada)
See also
Bibliography
