Dry bulk trades comprise iron ore, coal, grain, timber, steel and other similar cargoes which are shipped in bulk as opposed to carried in containers or other unit loads. Delivering these commodities every day requires an efficient dry cargo shipping industry - without which, world trade as we know it would cease.

The importance of the dry bulk industry is that without the estimated 285 million deadweight tons of dry bulk shipping, global trade, industry and ultimately our current lifestyles, could not be maintained.

The international steel industry - for example, could not function without an efficient and cost effective maritime industry transporting the raw materials - coal and iron ore, as well as the means to ship the finished product around the world.

Looking around the average home, the unseen links with the dry cargo industry are all around. Toasting a piece of bread involves metal components in the toaster - manufactured processes using ores and alumina, grain used in the bread and coal-generated electricity providing the power.

There are three main types/sizes of bulk carrier:

	Size (deadweight tonnes)	No. in World fleet
Handies	10 - 49,999 dwt	3212
Panamax	50 - 79,999 dwt	1453
Capesize	80,000+ dwt	796

Intercargo maintains a database of other dry bulk vessels. The latest published Benchmarking Report contains the following summaries of vessels believed extant at 1 January 2009:

Other dry cargo ships include OBO's (ore / bulk / ore carriers or Combination Carriers) which are vessels able to trade alternatively between dry and wet cargoes. There are also very large ore carriers which tend to be used on long-term contracts of affreightment (COAs), vessels which are used in the lumber or wood-chip trades and vessels employed in the cement trades. Smaller types of vessels - namely the handysize and handymax, can be fitted with their own discharging gear. We are frequently asked by the media about the world's largest dry cargo vessel. To the best of our knowledge, we believe that this is the "Berge Stahl" which measures 343 meters in length with a beam of 63 meters. It's deadweight is 364,000 dwt.

The dry cargo trades

It is difficult to accurately portray the variety of trades covered by dry cargo shipping. The main dry bulk trades are iron ore, coal, grain plus bauxite, alumina and phosphates. Unctad's Review of Maritime Transport estimates that the growth of international seaborne trade (goods loaded) in the main bulk trades to have been as shown in the table, shown right.

Chain of responsibility

To understand the industry better, Intercargo's policies draw on the concept of the "chain of responsibility". This defines the supply chain participants as the shipowners / operators, charterers, banks/insurance/other financial interests, labour union interests, environmental interests etc.