Resumen de Special agent on mission to solve snags in commodity shipping
Industrial Minerals
Dubai-headquartered Sharaf Shipping Agency and Singapore-based Ben Line Agencies announced in February that they were joining forces to launch a new shipping business specialised in wet and dry bulk commodities, including minor bulk cargoes such as fertiliser minerals, bauxite, steel products and cement. "Since the turn of the century the agency industry has faced serious downward pressure on fees. According to electronic shipping charterers, OpenSea.pro, minor bulk cargos made up a third of the total volume of dry bulk commodities shipped in 2015, or 1.86bn tonnes. According to Gidlow, even though the outlook for bulk commodities is uncertain and miners and shippers have moved to cut costs in the last five years, demand for "value-added" solutions offered by agents remains robust.
