Chinese Qingdao-based shipping company Agricore Shipping is once again turning to the shipbuilding market to expand its fleet.
Agricore Shipping has signed a contract with Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry (HT) for the construction of four 63,500 dwt Ultramax bulk carriers, according to Trade Winds.
Although the two sides did not disclose the price of the order and other contract details, according to shipbrokers, the cost of a single unit is between $34 million and $35 million, and the total value of the order is about $136 million (RMB987 million) to $140 million (RMB1,016 million), which is expected to be delivered from the second half of 2026 to 2027 one after the other.
The official website shows that AGRICORE Group was founded in Hong Kong in 2016. After more than 8 years of development, it has become a diversified group company focusing on shipping, integrating fleet operations, ship management, integrated logistics, investment and financing, shipping funds, and bulk trade. Headquartered in Qingdao, China, the Group provides customers all over the world with offshore logistics and ocean shipping services of grain, coal, iron ore, nickel ore, petroleum coke, fertilizer in bulk and general cargo, as well as services such as ship management, invest-ment and financing of ship assets and asset management services through its branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and so on.
It is worth noting that this order for bulk carriers from HT is Agricore Shipping’s second shipbuilding contract since its establishment.In July 2023, Agricore Group signed an order for two 82,600 dwt Kamsarmax bulk carriers with CSSC Chengxi Shipyard, with the cost of a single vessel of about $36 million and the total value of the order of about $72 million, which is expected to be delivered in 2026 and operated.