China’s Shandong Shipping has signed up for two more kamsarmax bulkers in a second newbuildings deal with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC).

The order for the 85,000-dwt bulk carriers means the Chinese shipping company now has four vessels booked at the subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp.

Shipbuilding sources familiar with the deal said that, like the earlier two newbuildings, DSIC subsidiary Shanhaiguan Shipbuilding Industry will construct the vessels. It is slated to deliver the quartet between late 2022 and 2023.

An industry source familiar with the newbuilding deal said Shandong Shipping is paying around $30.5m each for the latest duo.

That price is higher than the first two ships ordered at the DSIC subsidiary, thanks to the rising price of steel. The shipowner ordered those ships in January at a reported cost of less than $29m per vessel.

All four ships will comply with Phase 2 of the International Maritime Organization's Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), as well as meeting Tier III NOx emissions standards.

Sources said Shandong Shipping’s leasing arm, Shandong Huachen Financial Leasing Corp (Shandong Huachen FL), is financing the ships.

Shandong Huachen Financial Leasing is a subsidiary of Shandong Shipping. The financial company was established in 2016 with a capital of CNY 10bn ($154m).

One source said the division only started to be active in ship financing around three years ago. It was one of the three Chinese lessors that three years ago helped to finance 10 scrubber-fitted capesize bulk carriers that were ordered in Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding (SWS) for delivery in 2020 and 2021.

Shandong Shipping has bareboat chartered the 180,000-dwt vessels from the lessor and has sub-chartered them to Germany’s RWE to transport 150m tonnes of coal per year.

A fast-growing shipping company, Shandong Shipping has a fleet of 64 vessels, according to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network. It also has two very large ethane carriers under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard, five MR tankers booked at New Times Shipbuilding and one 210,000-dwt newcastlemax bulker at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Industry.

Last month, China Development Bank Financial Leasing disclosed that it has agreed to buy 10 MR product tankers under construction at New Times Shipbuilding for close to $384m.

Shipbuilding sources said the 50,000-dwt product carriers had been ordered by Shandong Shipping, and the company has chartered back the newbuildings under a long-term basis.

Qinghuangdao-based Shanhaiguan is currently building eight kamsarmax bulk carriers that will end up in the fleet of SDTR Marine — a joint venture between Shandong Shipping and Singapore’s Transcenden Global.