Japan Bank Finances Danish Shipper
The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) will provide a total of $28.3 million in syndicated loans with French bank BNP Paribas to help a major Danish shipping operator’s unit buy cargo vessels to be built by leading Japanese shipbuilder Imabari Shipbuilding, Jiji Press reported.
The state-owned JBIC aims to revive the domestic regional economies relying on the shipbuilding industry by giving financial support for vessel exports at a time when the industry faces a global slump due to oversupply, the report quoted informed sources as saying.
According to the report, under the export deal brokered by Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co., the Singaporean subsidiary of Ultrabulk Shipping A/S will purchase two 38,000-ton bulk ships from Imabari Shipbuilding, based in the city of Imabari, Ehime Prefecture.
Nippon Export and Investment Insurance will provide insurance for the loans to be extended by BNP Paribas, the sources also said.
Affected adversely by the problem of overcapacity at the Chinese and South Korean industries, Japanese shipbuilders concluded in fiscal 2016 export contracts for only 95 vessels, about one-fourth of the year-before level, according to the Japan Exporters’ Association.