Olam to Enter Shipowning business
SINGAPORE commodity trader Olam International has moved to enter the shipowning industry by acquiring four secondhand .ultramax vessels from China-based Greathorse International.
According to MANA, The deal sees Olam join the wave of other traders such as Cargill, Trafigura and Rhodium Energy investing in ships this year, amid bullishness in the market.
However, compared with other traders, Olam has not indulged in ordering newbuildings.
The vessels bought by Olam include 63,488 dwt Tiger Zhejiang, 63,997 dwt Tiger Beijing, 63,570 dwt Tiger Hong Kong and 63,488 dwt Tiger Tianjin. They were all built in 2015 by the Chinese yard Chengxi.
Price details have not yet emerged, but Howe Robinson quotes in its weekly sales and purchase report that all the vessels were sold at $80m en bloc.
According to Clarksons, so far this year around 423 vessels exchanged hands in the dry bulk market, with the highest secondhand sales taking place in the supramax and ultramax segment.
Olam is a Singapore-listed global supply chain manager of agricultural products and food ingredients operating in around 70 countries across the globe.