初中英语强化训练-第I部分.docVIP

强化训练复习第一部分 Breaking records can become monotonous after a while. The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the costs of shipping “dry” goods such as iron ore, coal and grain around the world, dipped this week after hitting an all-time high on November 13th. But it is still up 154% from a year earlier. As with so much to do with commodities, the extraordinary rise in freight rates is partly because of Chinas appetite for raw materials. A dearth of new ships, and flotillas waiting to berth in overcrowded ports (especially in Australia), are also driving rates higher. The cost of shipping iron ore from Brazil to China is now more than the cost of digging up the ore itself. Yet what makes the problem worse (or better, if you are a ship-owner) are the ways in which shifts in supply and demand are altering trade patterns around the world, especially in commodities like iron ore and coal, which are the most frequently traded cargoes in international shipping. Take iron ore. Chinas biggest suppliers—Australia and India—have been unable to cope with the surge in demand. According to Icap Hyde, a firm of shipbrokers, Australias market share of Chinas iron-ore imports fell from 70% around 15 years ago to about 40% last year. Earlier this year, to ensure enough iron ore for its own industries, India imposed tariffs on sales of iron ore abroad. Over the years, Chinese steel producers have scouted elsewhere for the metal—mainly in Brazil, where they have secured long-term supply contracts. But it takes three times as long to move cargo from Brazil to China as it does from Australia, which, in effect, reduces shipping capacity for each shipment of Brazilian iron ore to China that comes at Australias expense. Meanwhile, China used to export much more coal than it imported, according to Jon Chappell of JPMorgan. As recently as 2001, its net exports of coal were 89m tons. So far this year, it has imported almost as much as it has exported. Other East Asian countries such as Japan, South K