China Development Bank Financial Leasing has been tied to an order for up to ten Newcastlemaxes at Chinese shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.
The order is said to include five firm orders for 208,000 dwt bulkers plus five additional bulk carriers of the same size, according to Asiasis.
The ships are priced at around USD 47 million apiece, based on the market estimates.
The delivery of the ships is set to start in the second half of 2019 continuing into the first half of 2020.
Once delivered, the Newcastlemaxes would be hired by Cargill on a long-term charter.
The US commodity group confirmed the information to World Maritime News, saying that “ Cargill will take the vessels on time charter from CDB Financial Leasing.”
Chinese financial institutions have come under the spotlight as the emerging power when it comes to securing capital for the shipping industry.
As explained by Bill Guo , Executive Director of Beijing-based ICBC Leasing , since many ships are being built in China, especially those intended for export, there has been a great demand to push the banks to finance those ships.
According to Guo, both Chinese export and import banks and local leasing companies are interested in providing financing to such projects as the return is stable and the risk is reduced.
World Maritime News Staff