Cosco Shipping Bulk has put pen to paper on a series of up to 10 newcastlemax bulkers in what is expected to form part of a wider series of 210,000-dwt newbuildings.
The Chinese shipowner has turned to Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry Yangzhou Shipyard (Cosco HI Yangzhou) for eight firm vessels and two optional ships, it has confirmed.
The deal is believed to be worth $54m per vessel, pushing the overall price tag out to $432m.
Delivery of the scrubber-fitted ships is penciled in for the first half of 2021.
TradeWinds has previously reported that the shipowner was lining up a series of newcastlemax bulkers at multiple Chinese yards that could ultimately stretch to 30 vessels.
Shipbuilding players believe China Shipbuilding Industry Co (CSIC)'s Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry and Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry are each set to win deals for three ships.
Sino-Japanese shipyard Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering is expected to win two vessels.
Cosco Bulk is ordering the newcastlemaxes to ship bauxite from Guinea to China for state-controlled Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco), having secured a long-term contract-of-affreightment.
Chalco, which is listed in Hong Kong and New York, is China's largest producer of both alumina and aluminium.
The Beijing-based company has entered into an agreement with the Guinea government to develop a bauxite project in Boffa, located on the western side of the African country.
Chalco has granted mining licences for 15 years, with options of the same duration.
The Boffa project holds around 1.75 billion tonnes of bauxite.
Cosco Bulk is one of the largest dry cargo shipowners in the world with over 400 vessels in its portfolio.
