Minor Bulk Trades
The dry bulk cargoes below the five majors: what counts as a minor bulk, the ship sizes and parcel sizes involved, and the index and chartering exposure they carry.
The minor bulks are the dry bulk cargoes outside the five majors of iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite and alumina, and phosphate rock, and together they account for a large share of dry bulk tonne-miles despite being individually small. They include steel products, cement, fertilizers, forest products, salt, sugar, petcoke, scrap and a long tail of mineral and agricultural cargoes.
The full article will cover what distinguishes the group commercially rather than merely listing it: smaller parcel sizes, a wider range of load and discharge ports including berths without dedicated bulk plant, more frequent need for ship’s gear, and a greater share of cargoes with specific handling, cleanliness or hazard requirements.
It will also cover the fleet and the market. Minor bulks are carried mainly on Handysize, Handymax, Supramax and Ultramax tonnage, which is why those segments are more diversified and less exposed to a single commodity than the Capesize market. The relationship to the Baltic indices covering those sizes, and the chartering patterns the trades produce, will be treated alongside.