COSCO SHIPPING Group in Africa Completes First Container-to-Bulk Cargo Transport Conversion

China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited (COSCO SHIPPING Group)'s subsidiary in Africa completed its first shipping of bulk cargo for mining enterprises in Africa, which was originally supposed to be by container transportation, with the arrival of the DU JUAN SONG at Fangchenggang port after a month's voyage.

The DU JUAN SONG, carrying 10,000-metric tons of copper concentrate, berths at Fangchenggang port, China. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The global supply chain has been stagnant over the past two years, leading to an increasingly-tense contradiction between supply and demand in the container transport market.

Meanwhile, demand from mining enterprises in Africa for transportation of high-value minerals such as copper and cobalt ore has been continuously growing.

In response, COSCO SHIPPING Group in Africa gave full play to its advantages in integrated logistics supply chain service and container and bulk cargo transportation resources to meet the shipping needs of mining enterprises and stabilized the supply chain.

Switching the original container shipping into bulk cargo transport was a main solution that COSCO SHIPPING Group in Africa offered to the mining enterprises. After negotiation with the clients, the first container-to-bulk cargo transport contract was inked between COSCO SHIPPING Group and Zijin Mining on Feb 18. The contract included transporting 10,000-metric tons of copper concentrate from Durban, South Africa, to Fangchenggang port, China. The ship set out on April 1.

The 10,000-tons of copper concentrate that was supposed to be packed into containers is instead shipped as bulk cargo. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

As the first transport was smooth and highly-efficient, Zijin Mining expressed its willingness for future cooperation with COSCO SHIPPING Group.

What's more, the efficiency of the transport mode encouraged many other mining enterprises in Africa to approach the company and deepen strategic cooperation.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)