Labs · Logistics simulator
How many ships, trucks and trains does the plant need?
In the first phase, 8 to 12 bulk-carrier calls a year and about 74 truckloads a day, as long as no railway serves Kribi.
Result
Derived—/day
Truckloads per day
—kt/yr
Arrivals by sea
—%
Share of Kribi port’s 2025 traffic
Arrivals and departures, out of 12.7 Mt
—
Wagonloads per year
No railway serves Kribi today
At 0.3 Mt/yr, the plant would receive about 351,000 t of materials by sea (12 Handysize or 8 Supramax bulk carriers a year) and generate about 74 truckloads a day as long as no railway serves Kribi: 3.5% of the port’s 2025 traffic.
- Imported materials
- Finished products
- Cameroonian scrap
- Planned railway
| Flow | Tonnage (kt) | Handysize | Supramax |
|---|
| Item | kt/yr |
|---|
Assumptions and data
| Parameter | Value used | Range | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casting and rolling yield | 0.94 t product / t liquid | 0.92 – 0.96 t product / t liquid | Assumption | Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026); planning assumption, not a design figure |
| Electric-furnace metallic yield | 0.88 t liquid / t charge | 0.85 – 0.91 t liquid / t charge | Assumption | Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026); planning assumption, not a design figure; value for 30% reduced iron: the yield falls as that share rises (scrap 0.90, reduced iron 0.833, weighted by their shares) |
| Reduced iron in the metallic charge | 30% | 20 – 50% | Assumption | Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026); planning assumption, not a design figure; imported reduced iron (DRI/HBI), the balance being scrap |
| Cameroonian scrap available to the plant | 30 kt/yr | 0 – 60 kt/yr | Assumption | Planning assumption bounded by the only quantified study of national scrap arising, 53,000–61,833 t/yr in 2006 (Bidoung et al., Déchets, Revue francophone d’écologie industrielle n°48, 2007), most of which already feeds existing mills (local scrap covers only ~40% of their needs: Sikafinance, 30 Sep 2026) |
| Imported consumables (share of output) | 6% | 4 – 8% | Assumption | Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026); planning assumption, not a design figure: lime, alloys, electrodes, refractories, as a share of finished output |
| Handysize bulk-carrier parcel | 30,000 t per call | 25,000 – 35,000 t per call | Assumption | Industry convention: Handysize bulk carrier of about 35,000 dwt carrying ~30,000 t; Kribi offers 16 m at the quay (Port Autonome de Kribi, Guide du Port, Aug 2020) |
| Supramax bulk-carrier parcel | 50,000 t per call | 45,000 – 55,000 t per call | Assumption | Industry convention: Supramax bulk carrier of about 55,000–60,000 dwt carrying ~50,000 t; within the ~70,000–100,000 dwt the general port accepts (Port Autonome de Kribi, Guide du Port, Aug 2020) |
| Truck payload | 30 t | — | Assumption | Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026); planning assumption, not a design figure |
| Shipping days per year | 300 days/yr | — | Assumption | Cameroon Steel reference configuration RC-1 (edition 10 Oct 2026); planning assumption, not a design figure |
| Products shipped by sea | 30% | 0 – 80% | Assumption | Visitor scenario. Domestic rebar demand (~180 kt) is already below local capacity (Cameroon Tribune, 11 May 2026), so part of the output would have to reach regional markets |
| Inland flows by rail (rail scenario) | 50% | 0 – 100% | Assumption | Visitor scenario, only if the planned railway is built: share of inland flows (domestic scrap in, products to inland markets) moved by rail |
| Net load per wagon | 50 t | 40 – 60 t | Assumption | Labs assumption for a future freight line; gauge and rolling stock not yet defined (the 4 June 2026 memorandum covers studies, financing, construction and operation) |
| Wagons per train | 20 wagons | 15 – 30 wagons | Assumption | Labs assumption |
| Total traffic of the Port of Kribi | 12.7 Mt (2025) | — | Sourced | EcoMatin, « Au Cameroun, le port de Kribi revendique la place de premier terminal à conteneurs », 22 Apr 2026 (PAK figures: 12.7 Mt, 555,398 TEU) |
| Édéa–Kribi–Lolabé–Campo railway | ≈ 185 km, memorandum of 4 June 2026 | — | Sourced | Port Autonome de Kribi, communiqué « Ligne ferroviaire Édéa–Kribi–Lolabé–Campo : une nouvelle étape… », 4 Jun 2026 |
How this is calculated
Mass balance. Liquid steel = products ÷ 0.94 (casting and rolling); metallic charge = liquid steel ÷ furnace yield, which is 0.88 for the reference charge with 30% reduced iron and falls as that share rises (scrap 0.90, reduced iron 0.833, weighted by their shares, as in the value-chain explorer). The charge splits into imported reduced iron and scrap; available Cameroonian scrap is used first, the rest is imported. Consumables (lime, alloys, electrodes, refractories) add about 6% of output.
Ships. Arrivals by sea = reduced iron + imported scrap + consumables, divided by the parcel of a Handysize (≈ 30,000 t) or a Supramax (≈ 50,000 t), rounded up to the next call. The Port of Kribi offers 16 m of depth at the quay.
Trucks. As in the RC-1 reference configuration: (metallic charge + finished products − rail tonnage) ÷ 30 t ÷ 300 days. The shuttle between the port and the plant, a few kilometres apart, stays on the road; consumables travel in mixed loads and are not counted.
Rail. No railway serves Kribi today. The rail scenario assumes the Édéa–Kribi–Lolabé–Campo line (memorandum of understanding of 4 June 2026) is built and moves part of the inland flows on it, at 50 t net per wagon and 20 wagons per train.
Limits. Annual averages, without seasonal peaks or stocks. This is not a transport plan.
Sources
- EcoMatin, « Au Cameroun, le port de Kribi revendique la place de premier terminal à conteneurs », 22 Apr 2026 (PAK figures: 12.7 Mt, 555,398 TEU)
- Port Autonome de Kribi, communiqué « Ligne ferroviaire Édéa–Kribi–Lolabé–Campo : une nouvelle étape… », 4 Jun 2026
- Port Autonome de Kribi, Guide du Port de Kribi, Aug 2020 (16 m at the quay; vessel sizes)
- Cameroon Steel, RC-1 reference configuration (edition of 10 Oct 2026): mass balance and truck basis
- Bidoung et al., national scrap arising of 53,000–61,833 t/yr (2006), Déchets, Revue francophone d’écologie industrielle no. 48, 2007
- Sikafinance, 30 Sep 2026 (local scrap covers about 40% of existing mills’ needs)