Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha has signed a 23-year iron ore transportation contract with China’s Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corporation. The agreement, which is the first long-term deal between the two companies, will see NYK ship close to 52m tons of West Australian iron ore to Beilun, Ningbo, in China’s Zhejiang province beginning the end of this year.
For the first three years NYK will using existing bulk carriers on the service, after which it will deploy a special iron-ore carrier of over 230,000 tons on the route. During fiscal 2006, WISCO produced 13.76m tons of raw iron and steel. It plans to reach a production volume of 50m tons by 2012.
The NYK Group operates a fleet includes around 140 containerships, 270 bulk carriers, 50 wood-chip carriers, 110 car carriers, 25 reefer carriers, 70 tankers, 20 LNG carriers, and three cruise ships.
For the first three years NYK will using existing bulk carriers on the service, after which it will deploy a special iron-ore carrier of over 230,000 tons on the route. During fiscal 2006, WISCO produced 13.76m tons of raw iron and steel. It plans to reach a production volume of 50m tons by 2012.
The NYK Group operates a fleet includes around 140 containerships, 270 bulk carriers, 50 wood-chip carriers, 110 car carriers, 25 reefer carriers, 70 tankers, 20 LNG carriers, and three cruise ships.