Usually, the steel products are transported by marine shipment. there are break bulk and container shipments. For the two different ways of transportation, as importers and buyers, we only need to focus on factors affecting the goods arrived to us safely and quickly.
Firstly, we should know what are break bulk and containers. then find out which way is better for you.
What is the bulk shipment?
There are 2 types of bulk shipment: Bulk and break bulk.
• Bulk is for dry cargoes without packages such as iron ore, grain, and coal. They will be loaded directly in the holds.
• Break bulk for the cargoes with packages such as bundle, strapped, and bagged, they will be loaded in the holds or on deck.
In our many years’ experience, to avoid customer claims risk the shipper never loads on deck at all even by break bulk shipment. Break bulk is best for steel products.
What is container shipment?
Actually, the container is a big steel box of standard size. it protects the cargo well through the completely sealed container and suitable for transport worldwide by rail, road, or sea. Usually, there are 20ft containers and 40ft containers. the 20ft container loading is better than 40ft container for steel products.
In the following text, we will clearly explain the advantages and disadvantages of bulk shipment and container shipment, understand them exactly, and then according to your own requirements for transportation, you will be able to find out which method is suitable for you.
Advantages and disadvantages of bulk shipment
The advantages:
- The sea freight and port charges are cheaper than container vessel.
- There is no limitation on the size and weight of cargo, all cargos are suitable for bulk vessel.
- It is accepted with huge quantities of goods at one time, especially suitable for steel products.
The disadvantages
- All cargo must be ready at the seaport in advance and loaded into the vessel by the port’s crane.
- The shipping schedule is not regular, the shipping company will arrange the shipment plan only when there is enough cargo in the loading port.
3. It is easy to make cargo damage because all exporters’ cargoes are mixed loading together into the vessel. It is very easy to make cargo damage.
4. The loading time is long in the port. Firstly, the cargo is lifted from the port into the vessel, and in the vessel’s hold, the workers will stack the goods separately according to the bill of lading, the loading usually will keep 5-10 days.
5. Same reason as the previous point. There is variety of cargos loading together. it often happens that cargo is unloading in the wrong port.
6. If the cargo does not arrive at the port on time and misses the loading, there will be a long time to wait for the next ship.
7. The voyage time is long, generally there will be multiple discharge ports for the bulk vessel in a voyage. The unloading efficiency of each port is different, it will delay the arrival time and unloading plan of the next port if the unloading speed is slow, in our many years of exporting history, there are cases that the total sailing time is longer one month than planned.
8. It is not any port that can accommodate the bulk vessel. the bulk vessel needs water depth at least 8 meters, and also need to have wide space to let the vessel enter and leave the port.
9. Owners of bulk carriers are more at liberty than container shipping companies, they can issue the original bill of lading on any date as directed by the exporter if a guaranteed file from the exporter.
Advantages and disadvantages of containers shipment
The advantages
- The cargo will be loaded in containers in advance before the vessel arrived at the seaport.
2. The cargo not only can be loaded at the port but also can be loaded at the factory or warehouse.
3. There are no requirements for an unloading port. The container vessel can be accommodated by any seaport.
4. The cargo can be shipped quickly. Their schedule is regular, there will be at least one vessel every week.
5. The cargo will be delivered after another 7 days if missing this week’s shipment
6. The container is waterproof and protects cargo well, you don’t have to worry about the risk by sea.
7. Fast sailing time, in a voyage the container vessel is only from a loading port to a discharge port, and the sailing speed is also fast than the bulk vessel.
8. The loading time in the port is very fast, due to the containers are standard size, the loading efficiency is very high, generally, it is about 15 hours will be finished the vessel into and out of the port.
9. There is no restriction on the minimum quantity of cargo, even if only one piece of cargo, it can be shipped by LCL.
10. The bill of lading only will be issued by the shipping company after the vessel left out the loading port. All information on the bill of lading is true and reliable
The disadvantages
1.The sea freight and port charges are higher than bulk shipment
2. There are strict restrictions on the size and weight of goods, not all goods are suitable for loading into containers.
3. There will be not enough containers with large quantity cargo like more than 1000 tons at the port.
4. The container loading weight limit is about 28 tons, in order to maximize share sea freight, the quantity of the order should be a multiple of 28 tons.
Which one is better for me?
According to our export experience, the container is the best choice if the price of sea freight is almost the same. the cargo in the container is safe from the risk of rust and damage. It is also the fastest and under-controlled shipping.
If you want to check where the vessel is in real-time and keep track of the vessel, you can follow this website: v.shipfinder.com
