Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Infrastructure is to go ahead with new mini-bulker orders totalling 14 vessels.
The Indian company, part of Jindal Group, already has 18 8,000-dwt ships contracted at yards in India, Bangladesh and China as it seeks to build a fleet of 32 ships.
The river-sea ships are intended to move cargo between its own Jaigarh and Dharamtar ports for its steel mill and a new cement plant at Dolvi.
Bangladesh’s Western Marine Shipyard has delivered two, while Cochin Shipyard in India is building four, while TradeWinds reported that China's Wuhu Shipyard is constructing another six.
But Pranab Jha, vice president of shipping at JSW Steel told the Business Line daily that the Chinese yard now has 12 ships on order, making 18 in total.
New orders coming
“We would be ordering another 14 ships of 6,000-tonne capacity each, most likely from China and a few of them would be built at Cochin Shipyard,” he added.
They would cost $9m each, or $126m in total.
Jha said higher prices quoted by other Indian yards and the timeline for construction led the group to head overseas.
“Time is very critical for me. We are not a shipping company, we are a service provider for steel. The steel plant is getting ready next year by April and I require the ships by that time,” Jha added.
Regarding potential orders at Cochin, he said: “I have a time frame; whatever they deliver in that time frame I can order.
“Indian yards were quoting absurd prices to build the ships even though most of the shipbuilding capacity in the country were idling due to lack of orders.”
He added: “I told them, we are a steel manufacturer, we will give you steel, yet they were not competitive on price. One prominent Indian yard quoted 30% plus more than the Chinese yard."
