Chinese manganese ore producer Ningxia Tianyuan Manganese is going to enter the shipowning sector with plans to build a fleet of over 20 bulk carriers.
The company has recently established a dedicated shipping unit Tianyuan Logistics Shipping in Hong Kong to handle the shipping and supply chain operations of the group.
Tianyuan plans to establish a fleet with over 20 vessels comprised of both supramax bulkers and capesize bulkers. Currently the company is in negotiations with a number of domestic shipyards for the construction of the first batch of vessels.
An industry source told Splash that Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is very close to getting an order from Tianyuan.
Ningxia Tianyuan Manganese is the world’s largest electrolytic manganese supplier. In 2016, Tianyuan acquired the entire assets of Australia miner Consolidated Minerals and in September the company invested $30m to develop the Udiudi mine in Pilbara, Western Australia.
Tianyuan also recently reached an investment agreement with the government of Ghana to develop mining and port infrastructure in the Africa country.
