China Minsheng Trust looks to be exiting shipping, TradeWinds has learned.
Shipping sources in China said the Beijing financial shipowner has put its existing fleet and newbuildings up for sale. The fleet includes four 85,000-dwt bulker newbuildings and 20 dry bulk vessels, from supramax to capesize.
Sources said it is selling the fleet to raise cash because of financial challenges.
China Minsheng Trust, headed by chairman Zhang Bo, is unrelated except by name to the much larger Minsheng Financial Leasing or to the leasing company's parent China Minsheng Bank. Zhang, however, is a former official of Minsheng Financial Leasing.
News agencies in China reported that several companies have filed lawsuits in a Beijing court against China Minsheng Trust for failing to redeem private equity and trust wealth management products on time.
But a company executive denied that China Minsheng Trust is getting out of shipping.
"It is very common to see one buying or selling ships ... this is a normal activity in the industry," she said. "We have not received any notice from the top management that we are quitting the shipping business."
Sources said China Minsheng Trust is close to concluding the sale of four kamsarmax bulker newbuildings under construction at state-owned Chengxi Shipyard.
A Chinese-owned but Singapore-registered company known as Pacific Rim Shipmanagement is said to be buying the resale newbuildings.
It is said to be paying between $32m and $33m each for the 85,000-dwt bulkers, which will be built to Phase 2 of the International Maritime Organization's Energy Efficiency Design Index standards and Tier III NOx rules.
One of the newbuildings, to be named MSXT Echo, is due for delivery this month. The other three are due to be delivered next March, June and September.
One shipping source thinks Pacific Rim is buying the kamsarmaxes at a "good price", as their market value is around $37m each.
VesselsValue puts the value of the MSXT Echo at $34.67m and the three other newbuildings at between $34.15m and $34.57m.
Pacific Rim was not contactable.
China Minsheng Trust ordered the quartet last year at a reported price of around $27m each. It ordered them against charter contracts from COFCO International, the chartering unit of food giant COFCO.
China Minsheng Trust's newbuilding deal with Chengxi included options for four additional vessels. It exercised two of the options but later sold them to Yasa Shipping for $28.5m apiece.
Brokers said the Chinese leasing company did not declare the option of the last two units and Chengxi sold them to Chellaram Shipping in Hong Kong for $31.5m each.
Shipping sources said the owner of Pacific Rim is Yang Zhen Xing, who used to be the major shareholder of Shanghai-listed Shandong Bohui Paper Industry.
Yang is said to have sold his shares last year to pulp and paper company Sinar Mas Group for CNY 2.6bn ($407m) to focus on shipping.
"Yang is switching his attention to the shipping business and he is planning to expand his fleet through resale newbuildings and secondhand vessels," said a shipping source in Shanghai.
"Besides buying Minsheng Trust's four newbuildings, Pacific Rim is also intending to buy some resale newbuildings from other Chinese leasing companies."
The source said Yang owns another shipping-related company in Shanghai called Feng Quan Yu Shipinvest.
Data firm IHS Markit lists Pacific Rim with 12 ships: nine woodchip carriers and three kamsarmaxes.
China Minsheng Trust, founded in 2013, is a subsidiary of Shenzhen-listed OceanWide Holdings. The financial company joined the shipping industry five years ago by buying newbuildings in resale deals.
VesselsValue data shows that it bought 25 bulkers between 2016 and 2019, and sold 22 ships between 2018 and 2021, including the two resale newbuildings to Turkey's Yasa.
A number of bulkers have been sold or transferred to a company called Minyi Ship Leasing, which sources said is a ship-leasing unit of China Minsheng Trust.
VesselsValue lists China Minsheng Trust with six bulkers and shows Minyi Ship Leasing with a fleet of 14 vessels: two capesizes, seven panamaxes/kamsarmaxes, four ultramaxes and one supramax.
