Dry Cargo Freight Market

摘要

World crude steel production in 2007 ended at 1343.5 mt, up from 1249.8 mt in 2006. Once again, China was the main driver, as their production increased from 422.7 mt in 2006 to 489 mt in 2007, an increase of 15.7% year-on-year. World pig iron production is more relevant than crude steel as a tonnage demand indicator as it requires iron ore and coking coal as opposed to scrap-based steel production. World pig iron production including DRI (direct reduced iron) increased from 916.3 mt in 2006 to 940.0 mt in 2007. This is up 2.6% over the period. China had a massive growth from 405.4 mt to 466.3 mt year-on-year, which is up by 15.0%. India witnessed a large decrease of 31.4% to 28.9 mt in 2007.