“Statistically there should be a vessel here today, as we have 184 bulk carriers – mostly Panamax and Capesize – coming to our plant and quay every year, and it normally takes four days to discharge the cargo,” says Jaap Naujoks, Harbour Shift Supervisor of Corus Steelworks, IJmuiden. On the day of our visit, the berth for the large bulk carriers is empty, with a ship due in at 10 pm.

The Corus plant receives some 15 million tons of raw material annually, about one third of it coal, and the remaining two thirds iron ore. The output at the other end makes the plant one of Europe’s top steel producers. It produces approximately 6.5 million tons of steel per year, primarily high-grade and coated steel sheet.
“In IJmuiden Corus produces only steel sheet, in thicknesses from 0.1 up to 4.5 mm,” says Onno Dickmann, Corus’ Media Relations Manager. “Most of the uses of our steel are highly specialised, and we work very closely with our end users to ensure that what we offer is exactly what they require, as well as carrying out research and development work.”
The factory was founded in 1918 as Royal Hoogovens, when the Dutch decided after the First World War that the country had to be less dependent on importing steel for different applications. Initially, the factory was partly owned by the city of Amsterdam and the Dutch government.
In 1999, Royal Hoogovens and British Steel merged to form Corus. Today, there are some 9,100 employees at the factory, which has an annual turnover of some Euro 3.2 billion.
“In addition to the large bulk carriers coming in, we also ship finished products by inland waterways as well as by short sea and transocean shipping. Emptying the smaller bulk carriers takes up a lot of our time,” says Jaap Naujoks. “The ease of discharge generally improves with vessel size. The more discharge-friendly the cargo holds are, the better for us,” concludes Naujoks.

Date: 08 February 2008