China Steel Express Corporation (CSE) in Kaohsiung is fully owned by China Steel Corporation (CSC) in Taiwan. CSC is a leading steel producer and as such, has a subsidiary for marine bulk transportation has proved to be a good solution for the company.

CSE was established in 1996. The principal business scope comprises the transportation of steel mill raw materials, flux materials, finished products and general cargo with vessels owned, chartered or under management. CSE operates its own fleet; the total number of vessels are 22 of which 15 are Capesize bulk vessels, two Handysize, two Panamax, two special-
purpose steel product carriers and one selfunloading vessel. In addition there are new vessels under construction.
“The vessels trade internationally with about half of the cargo carried for CSC. We are quite proud of the vessels as they are of our own design. Here at our offices we also carry out the ship management ourselves,” says Donald K. L. Chao, President of China Steel Express.
“The main reason for creating CSE in the first place was to have access to a stable source of ocean transport service to ensure efficient delivery of its raw materials, as well as to reduce transportation costs and to get growth and diversification objectives for the CSC group by serving more companies outside the group with their transportation needs. Of the iron ore we transport 70 per cent comes from Australia, the rest from Canada and Brazil. About 50 per cent of our trade is long term for CSC, and the remaining 50 per cent is short term or time charter for Japanese and European companies.
The rates we get these days are very good; we can see up to $ 150,000 per day for a Capesize. With the share number of newbuildings entering the market – no less than 150 vessels per year for 2010, 2011 and 2012, it is anybody’s guess what this can do to the rates. The bulk carrier industry is basically a very conservative business and used to be the worst market in the past. So most of us in the industry will remember this and be careful in the long term perspective,” says Chao. “The newbuildings just delivered to us – three vessels – are the largest bulkers in Taiwan with over 200,000 dwt.
“Training is an important activity for us, and we train our personnel and masters. In this connection we have also had some very good DNV training sessions. We take very well care of our crew and ISM-related matters. The crew quarters on of vessels of a better quality than the average for the industry including artwork. We do our best to retain our crew and they are the key to our professional operations,” concludes Chao.
By the month of October, the production volume of steel from China Steel Corporation was some eleven million tonnes, and China Steel Express Corporation handled a volume of 30 million tonnes of iron ore, coal and lime stones for China Steel every year.

Date: 30 January 2008