Iron ore shipping guide
Iron ore is the single largest dry bulk trade by volume and the dominant driver of Capesize freight.
The two dominant routes
West Australia to China is the highest-volume route and the shortest of the major long-haul flows. Brazil to China is roughly three times the distance and therefore absorbs far more tonne-miles per tonne shipped.
Because Brazilian volumes consume disproportionate vessel capacity, a shift in the Brazil–Australia mix moves Capesize rates even when total ore volumes are flat.
Ports and constraints
Loading is concentrated in Port Hedland and Dampier in Australia and Ponta da Madeira and Tubarão in Brazil. Discharge is concentrated across a handful of deep-water Chinese terminals.
Weather is a recurring supply shock: cyclones in the Pilbara and heavy rainfall in Brazil's northern system routinely interrupt loadings.
How the trade is priced
Freight is assessed on the C3 (Tubarão–Qingdao) and C5 (West Australia–Qingdao) routes, which feed directly into the Capesize index and, through it, the Baltic Dry Index.