Sales of China-built secondhand bulkers stabilise after USTR levy update
- Sales of China-built bulk carriers fell significantly from February after proposals were announced to charge high port fees at US ports
- More clarity on USTR port levies has provided a renewed interest in the purchase of secondhand bulk carriers built in China
Bulk carrier sale-and-purchase activity in the past week was dominated by China-built ships with several kamsarmax and supramax units changing hands
FOLLOWING the dilution of original port levy proposals by the US Trade Representative on China-built ships, interest in buying secondhand bulk carriers constructed by Chinese shipyards has returned.
In April, the USTR announced that only ships with a capacity above 80,000 dwt and owned by China-domiciled companies would be charged port levies.
The watering down of the USTR’s original February proposals means there will now be limited impact from port levies on US dry cargo trades, since most US exports are shipped in vessels of below 80,000 dwt.
Xclusiv Shipbrokers analyst Eirini Diamantara said that after initial proposals to charge port fees on any China-built ship were announced, sale-and-purchase activity for China-built bulk carriers declined by 16% from February to March. This was despite March being the most active month of 2025 for total bulker sales, with 20% more sales compared to February.
China-built bulk carrier sales declined further in April and were 19% down compared to March, Xclusiv Shipbrokers’ data shows. However, there has since been a big increase in activity.
“Following the latest USTR proposal and its clarifications we observed a 47% increase in sale-and-purchase activity for China-built bulk carriers in May, compared to the previous month,” Diamantara told Lloyd’s List.
Bulk carrier S&P activity, in terms of numbers of transactions, has been relatively stable in 2025, with some 55 ships changing ownership each month.
March was the only exception, marking a peak in dry cargo vessels sales activity for the year, with a total of 73 vessels being sold during that month.
Diamantara said that of the 304 bulk carriers that changed hands to date in 2025, 169 were built in Japan, accounting for 55% of the total. China-built bulkers provided a 33% share.
Reported S&P deals in the past week were dominated by China-built, ships with several kamsarmax and supramax units changing hands.
They included the kamsarmax trio CL Grace (IMO: 9639555), CL Mona (IMO: 9639567) and CL Tiffany (IMO: 9639579). The 81,500 dwt vessels, built by China’s Yangfan Shipbuilding in 2012-2013, were sold by Hong Kong’s Zhejiang Shipping Co to Chinese buyers for $45m en bloc.
German buyers are said to have purchased the 2017-built, 82,000 dwt, kamsarmax Kazahaya (IMO: 9764037) from Japanese owners for $27.5m.
Meanwhile, Polsteam has sold the kamsarmax Jawor (IMO: 9452608) to undisclosed European buyers for around $11m. The 15-year-old ship was built by China’s New Times Shipbuilding and the relatively low price reflected by the vessel’s requirement for its third special survey.
In the supramax bulker segment the 56,700 dwt, 2012-built NZ Hangzhou (IMO: 9603685) has changed hands in an intra-China deal for $12m, while the 2011-built Ivy Alliance (IMO: 9473834) has been sold by its Greek owner to Vietnamese buyers for $15.6m. The high sale price of the latter vessel was due its Japanese construction.
Sales transactions for the month of May comprised 18 handysize bulkers with an average age of 14.7 years while 12 supramax ships with an average age of 15.4 years changed hands.
Xclusiv Shipbrokers’ data shows that the panamax/kamsarmax segment also showed notable activity with a total of 17 units being sold.
