Minerals desk · Bulk ores and alloys
Ores that feed the furnace.
Iron ore, bauxite, manganese, chrome and nickel ore moved in bulk from mine to smelter, on both index-linked and fixed-price terms.
- Grades handled
- 20+
- Discharge ports
- 26
Overview
The minerals book
Bulk minerals are a logistics business before they are a trading one. Value per tonne is low enough that freight is a material share of the delivered cost, and the vessel decision often moves the economics further than the price view does.
Cargoes price off published references — the 62% Fe CFR North China index and its grade-differential series, or the equivalent assessments in manganese, chrome and bauxite — adjusted pro rata for the Fe unit and penalised for silica, alumina, phosphorus and sulphur. We also write fixed-price terms for buyers who need budget certainty across a quarter.
Because the hedge is an index swap rather than an exchange-deliverable contract, the grade differential stays on our book. Pricing that residual honestly is the discipline this desk runs on.
Cargoes are sampled and analysed by an agreed independent laboratory, with umpire analysis available where results are contested.
Products
What we trade, and to what specification.
| Product | Specification | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Iron ore fines | 58 – 62% Fe | Index-linked against published references |
| Bauxite | 42 – 48% Al₂O₃ | Guinean and Australian origin into refineries |
| Manganese ore | 36 – 44% Mn | Into alloy smelters across Asia |
| Chrome ore | 40 – 44% Cr₂O₃ | South African lumpy and concentrate |
| Nickel ore | 1.3 – 1.8% Ni | Laterite ore into NPI and HPAL plants |
Commercial terms
How a cargo is priced and settled.
The headline price is rarely the price. These are the terms that decide what a cargo is actually worth by the time it is discharged and invoiced.
- 01Index-linked pricing
- The base is a published assessment for the reference grade, averaged over an agreed pricing period around the bill of lading or discharge date. Fixed-price terms are quoted against the same curve where a buyer prefers certainty.
- 02Grade adjustment and value in use
- The reference grade is adjusted pro rata for each Fe unit above or below, with premiums and discounts for the differential series and penalties for silica, alumina, phosphorus and sulphur on a stated scale.
- 03Dry basis and moisture
- Ore is bought and sold per dry metric tonne. Free moisture is determined at the discharge port on the agreed sample and deducted from the shipped weight before invoicing.
- 04Laytime and demurrage
- Contracts fix a load and discharge rate in tonnes per weather working day, with demurrage payable at the charterparty rate and despatch, where agreed, usually at half. On low-margin bulk cargoes, port performance can decide the trade.
- 05Transportable moisture limit
- Cargoes that can liquefy are certified against the IMSBC Code before loading, with moisture content tested below the transportable moisture limit and the master's acceptance obtained on the certificate.
- 06Freight and the basis decision
- FOB and CFR are quoted as alternatives, with the freight leg fixed on the voyage market or covered on the Baltic routes. Whether we sell the cargo or the delivered tonne is a position in its own right.
Trade routes
Origin to destination.
Origin
Guinea
Destination
China, Gulf refineries
Capesize, planned around the wet season
Origin
Sulawesi, Indonesia
Destination
Domestic and Chinese smelters
Barge and Supramax
Origin
South Africa
Destination
China, India
Chrome and manganese on Panamax
Origin
Brazil
Destination
Northwest Europe, Middle East
Iron ore fines on Capesize
Execution
How the cargo actually moves.
- Moisture and transportable moisture limit certification before load
- Independent sampling, with umpire analysis on contested lots
- Stockpile management at origin and discharge
- Seasonal routing around monsoon and wet-season constraints