As a biggest steel maker in Hebei Province, Tanggang Group plans to build 2-3 300,000 dwt vessels for transportation of Brazil iron ore in order to reduce cost and ensure strategic safety of iron ore. The freight rate for iron ore from Brazil to China stood at $18-42 per ton in 2005, $20-37 in 2006 and $33-57 in 2007. At the same time, big mills in the province imported more iron ore year by year, rising freight rate has become one of the major pressures for production cost. Given the successful experience from world's steel giants like Nippon Steel, Posco, Arcelor and Baosteel, Tanggang Group decided to build over 300,000 dwt vessels special for iron ore transportation in order to reduce cost pressure from rising freight rate.

According to long-term supply contracts with Australia's BHBP, FMG and Brazil's CVRD, Tanggang will import a total of over 100 million tons iron ore between 2008 and 2012. In order to further reduce ocean freight, the group also signed long-term transportation contracts with several international companies such as Norway's BW.