Copper concentrate is the raw material used to produce copper ingots. The copper concentrate also contains sulfur. Dry smelting performed by smelters in Japan like Saganoseki Smelter and Refinery, remove the sulfur content as a byproduct and process it into sulfuric acid.
Conversely, the wet smelting (solvent extraction-electrowinning [SX-EW]) method used to produce copper ingots produces the copper ingots through an electrolytic process from a leach solution obtained by dispersing sulfuric acid on copper ore. Typically this method uses large amounts of sulfuric acid. In Chile, the world’s number one copper producing country, the consumption of sulfuric acid can be very large depending on the global demand for copper.
To address this supply & demand equation the Mar Camino (Sea Road) was launched in 2010 as the world’s only sulfuric acid/copper concentrate ore (bulk) carrier.
The copper concentrate of 30% purity produced from the copper mines of Chile is stowed in the ship’s hold and then shipped mainly to the Pan Pacific Copper (PPC) Saganoseki Smelter & Refinery in Oita Prefecture. The by-product concentrated sulfuric acid produced in the dry smelting process is loaded in a special-purpose tank and shipped back to Chile, where it is again used in a smelting process at the copper mine or sold.
With “freight” for the otherwise empty backhaul, the dual purpose Mar Camino thus reduces logistical costs.
George Lauriat is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Transportation (AJOT) and a veteran journalist with more than 50 years of experience covering global shipping, ports, trucking, logistics, energy, and supply chain economics. He has reported from more than 50 countries throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, publishing approximately 4,000 bylined articles, a book, numerous book chapters, and research for television specials. Before joining AJOT, Lauriat was a foreign correspondent based in Hong Kong, contributing to leading international publications covering maritime trade and global commerce. He is a recipient of the Jefferson Fellowship for his reporting on maritime policy and international affairs.
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It is the “uncontained” shipments that draw a lifetime allegiance of purveyors of the business. As one MPV (Multi Purpose Vessel) analyst bluntly said as an aside, “Boxes are boring.”
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