Steel surveys

Steel has always been one of the most valuable cargoes transported by sea, in considerable tonnages. Traditional trading patterns were East-West, or West-East bound, between North America, Korea/Japan and Western Europe.

MODERN TRADING PATTERNS

The once clear, traditional trading pattern has now changed into a very complex and confusing pattern whereby steel products are nowadays exported from a huge number of ‘exotic’ places all over the world.

Under pressure of market prices, companies involved in steel business are forced to follow this evolution towards a complex and confusing global steel market. In order to achieve competitive advantage and to yield profits, companies should be able to buy and sell steel products all over the world and to take these decisions in a very short period of time. This need for quick decisions entails a lot of uncertainty and additional risks, e.g. how does the steel actually look like? How is it packed? How is it presently stored? What are the transport facilities to the nearest loading port? Are local stevedores experienced in loading steel?

Moreover, when a company has finally decided to buy steel and to ship it, it should ensure that the cargo is safely transported from place of origin to destination, thus minimizing the risk of transport damage.

Since then, the steel market and the trading patterns have changed considerably. Russia and Eastern Europe as a whole have become an important exporter of steel products. Countries such as China, Brazil, India and Taiwan gradually started to increase steel export. Production sites in North Africa (Libya, Iran, Algeria, Morocco, etc.) and South-Africa succeeded in upgrading their quality standards, enabling them to also start the export of steel. 

A WORLDWIDE NETWORK OF EXPERTISE

DP SURVEY GROUP N.V. is well aware of all these uncertainties experienced by steel companies and has established a worldwide network of experienced marine surveyors with profound knowledge of the carriage of steel products by land and by sea. The network is used on a daily basis by several big steel traders, insurance brokers and underwriters. Surveys are daily done all over the world, from Brazil to China, from Russia to South-Africa.

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE

In addition, DP SURVEY GROUP N.V. offers a full package of standardised surveys, fully adapted to the steel business i.e. inspections during the production of the steel at the mill, inspections of the packing, warehouse surveys, pre-shipment surveys of the steel, pre-loading condition surveys on vessels to determine whether the latter are fully fit and suitable to load steel cargoes, steel load surveys, steel discharge surveys, damage surveys on steel, etc. For all these surveys, standard instructions and standard reports have been drawn up, fully tailored to the specific needs of the clients.

COORDINATION AND MONITORING

All survey work is organised, coordinated and closely monitored from one central point, being the DPS office in Antwerp. At this central office, an experienced coordinator follows up on the survey work and monitors your steel cargoes during the entire transport chain, from the inspection in the mill to the load survey at the loading port, the discharge survey at the discharge port and possible damage surveys at inland locations. By ensuring that one coordinator monitors the entire transport chain of a specific consignment, a clear distinction can be made between pre-shipment and transport-related damage, an important point of discussion in the handling of steel claims.

Reporting is done without delay and electronically, all this at highly competitive rates, often fixed all-in lump sum rates clearly agreed upon between the parties involved.