On August 22, Zhejiang Jiahua Energy Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Jiahua Energy” or the “Company”) issued an announcement regarding the investment in and construction of a vessel by a subsidiary. A subsidiary of the Company plans to invest in the construction of one 35,000-cubic-meter medium-sized liquefied hydrocarbon carrier. The project has been reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors of Jiahua Energy.
The announcement specifies that Jiamei Shipping—a holding subsidiary of Zhejiang Zhapu Meifu Port & Storage Co., Ltd. (which is in turn a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jiahua Energy)—plans to invest in the construction of one 35,000 cbm medium-sized liquefied hydrocarbon carrier. The total investment amount will not exceed RMB 750 million, with Meifu Port & Storage bearing up to RMB 450 million of that cost. The vessel will be built by Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering Co.,Ltd.(CIMC SOE), with delivery scheduled for no later than December 31, 2029.
Jiahua Energy stated that terminal and storage operations are business sectors in which the Company has been engaged for many years. Through its equity investment in Ningbo Xinrun Petrochemical Storage and Transportation Co., Ltd. (Xinrun Terminal is a deep-water port capable of accommodating large ocean-going liquefied hydrocarbon tankers) and in conjunction with its own Meifu Terminal (an inland waterway terminal for liquefied hydrocarbons), the Company has gradually developed comprehensive capabilities to serve both coastal/inland waterway shipping and ocean-going shipping.
However, Jiahua Energy currently lacks its own transport vessels and possesses insufficient short-haul coastal transport capacity—factors that have become bottlenecks constraining the long-term development of the Company’s terminal storage and logistics operations. This investment aims to address the capacity shortfall in these operations and enhance the Company’s comprehensive service capabilities; it is expected to have a positive impact on the Company’s future business operations and development.