LaycanDeskBagged fertilizer and urea freight
Urea, DAP and ammonium sulphate in 50 kg and jumbo bags on geared Handysize to Supramax tonnage. Freight for bagged urea, DAP and ammonium sulphate in 50 kg PP bags and 1 tonne jumbo bags: sling loading at 1,500 to 3,000 tonnes a day on geared Handysize, Handymax and Supramax tonnage from Sohar, Jubail and China to East Africa, India and the Red Sea.
Bagged fertilizer is a hook cargo. Fifty-kilo PP bags are made up into slings of 40 to 50 bags, or pre-slung at the factory, and lifted by the ship's cranes or shore gear into the holds where stevedores stack them by hand; jumbo bags of one tonne lift singly and stow faster. Loading runs at 1,500 to 3,000 tonnes a day depending on the number of gangs and cranes, and discharge is often slower. Bags do not shift the way bulk does, so shifting boards are not needed, but urea and DAP taint easily and cake in damp holds: owners are asked for clean, dry, odour-free holds and hatch covers that pass a hose test, and receivers look at the bags at the hatch before they take delivery. A stem of 5,000 to 12,000 tonnes fits a Handysize; a 25,000 to 30,000 tonne bagged stem fills a Supramax, and a multi-port discharge is common.
A recent shape the desk has worked is bagged urea ex Sohar to Nacala, a Handysize to Handymax parcel with the receiver's bag weight and discharge gangs written into the enquiry. Send us the product and bag weight, whether bags are pre-slung, the quantity with its tolerance, load and discharge ports with the crane and gang arrangement at each, load and discharge rates, laycan and the charterer's name. We put that to owners of geared tonnage opening in the Gulf, the Red Sea or China and come back with named ships; positions from owners go on the board the same way, with hold condition and last cargoes noted, and each side hears from us only when the other fits.
How it ships
- 50 kg PP bags in slings of 40–50, or pre-slung
- 1 MT jumbo bags lifted singly
- 1,500–3,000 MT/day by hook
- Clean, dry, odour-free holds; hose-tested hatches
- No shifting boards; tally at the hatch
Load areas
- Sohar and Ruwais
- Jubail and Dammam
- China (Qingdao, Huanghua, Lianyungang)
- Egypt (Damietta, Ain Sukhna)
Discharge areas
- East Africa (Nacala, Beira, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam)
- India (Kandla, Mundra, Vizag)
- Red Sea (Port Sudan, Aqaba, Hodeidah)
- Bangladesh (Chittagong, Mongla)
Ships that carry it
The cargo itself, on Commbril
Questions charterers and owners ask
Why is the bag weight the first thing you ask?
Because it sets the loading rate. Fifty-kilo bags in slings load at 1,500 to 2,000 tonnes a day with three or four gangs; one-tonne jumbo bags lift singly and load faster. Owners price the voyage on the days in port, so the bag weight and the number of gangs decide the freight more than the distance.
Do bagged fertilizer stems need shifting boards?
No. Bags stow against each other and do not run the way bulk grain does. What owners are asked for instead is hold cleanliness: dry, odour-free holds with no residue of the last cargo, because urea and DAP taint and cake, and the receiver inspects bags at the hatch.
Can one ship discharge at two or three ports?
Yes, and bagged fertilizer into East Africa and the Red Sea often does. Give us the full rotation with the quantity at each port and the discharge gangs available, and we price it as one voyage.
Which positions do bagged fertilizer stems need?
Geared Handysize, Handymax and Supramax tonnage opening in the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea, the Indian west coast and North China. Send name, IMO number, dwt, gear, hold condition, open port and dates.