China books more bulkers

Hantong Ship Heavy Industry (HSHI), located in Jiangsu Province, has become the latest Chinese shipbuilder to win a clutch of newbuilding contracts, with an order for seven bulk carriers worth around 1.4bn yuan ($205m). Following the recent drought of orders, Chinese yards have seen a significant improvement in new business since the beginning of June. The country’s shipbuilders received 41 newbuilding orders, totalling 4.7m dwt, in June, according to the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry. These orders included Grand China Logistics’ contract for 30 bulkers, totalling 4.1m dwt, at Zhoushan Jinhaiwan Shipyard. More orders are expected to be confirmed in the near future imminently since Chinese banks are able to come up with some attractive finance schemes while Beijing is extremely keen at the moment to support shipbuilding. The HSHI order to build seven 57,000 dwt bulk carriers was placed by unnamed Southeast Asia shipping companies at a price of $29.3m per vessel. According to Clarkson Research Services, Jiangsu Hantong has an order backlog of 45 vessels stretching through to early 2013 delivery and the total value of the yard’s orderbook is thought to be Yuan4bn.