Cosco Shipping Bulk has swooped for three more newcastlemax newbuildings to add a second tranche of ships to a major project.
Fresh from inking up to 10 vessels at Cosco HI Yangzhou earlier this week it has now placed a trio of 210,000 dwt bulkers at CSIC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry.
TradeWinds has reported that the final Cosco newcastlemax haul could extend to 30 ships to meet a bauxite contract with Chalco.
Beihai has experience of building newcastlemax bulkers and has two vessels under construction for Shandong Ocean and VLOCs for clients including ICBC.
Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry is also set to win deals for three ships from Cosco, while Sino-Japanese shipyard Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering is expected to win two vessels.
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.
