Nickel ore risk highlighted

One of the most pressing problems for the bulk shipping industry is the safe carriage of nickel ore. The increasing demand for this commodity is fuelled by China’s thirst for nickel ore as it is the principal alloy component for stainless steel. Chinese nickel ore imports have spiralled from nearly 5m metric tonnes in 2006 to near 50m mt in 2011. The bulk of these imports come from Indonesia, with the Philippines now running very close behind.