Shanghai Junzheng Logistics has said that the acquisition of chemical tanker company formerly known as Sinochem International Logistics has closed.
Under the new name, the company now plans to resume a process of gradual fleet renewal.
The stalled acquisition of the vessel, container and terminal assets of chemical giant Sinochem International Corp formally closed this week after bankers' misgivings were overcome.
Junzheng Logistics general manager Song Wei and two other company officials confirmed the deal had closed. Song declined to comment beyond referring to public announcements on the Sinochem and Junzheng websites.
TradeWinds recently reported that the takeover by coal tycoon Du Jiangtao's Inner Mongolia Junzheng Energy & Chemical Group Co that began in late 2017 was set to close before the end of this month.
Junzheng Logistics officials said two joint ventures with Japan's Dorval Tankers and Norway's Stolt-Nielsen are continuing smoothly under the new ownership and added that there will be no financial obstacles to vessel transactions as part of a fleet renewal.
But they are not acting in a hurry in the current depressed charter market.
"The sales will not be because of this ownership transition," said one Junzheng Logistics official who was unwilling to be quoted by name. "We will be optimising our fleet and over the next three years any vessel of around 20 years or over is a sales target."
Two further newbuildings will be added to a pair of 7,000-dwt chemical carriers ordered last October at Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry in Wuhan. The ships are intended for domestic trading but officials said that they are designed to be upgraded easily for European trading if needed.
On the sale-and-purchase side, four to five elderly ships will be replaced with "appropriate" tonnage at a pace determined by the market.
"The current charter market is not promising so we prefer to wait and see about secondhand purchases," said the official. "We expect an improvement in the chemical carrier market by the end of this year when new IMO low sulphur fuel regulations are about to come into force."
Earlier this month, the company sold the 19,500-dwt SC Shenzhen (built 1999) for a reported $6.8m.
The company controls over 80 chemical carriers of up to 41,000 dwt, about 30 of which are chartered in.
