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Rongsheng defaults on payment
Steel agency Shanghai Yuanquan Investment Management says privately owned Chinese shipbuilder Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries has defaulted on a Yuan60m ($8.8m) payment. 
A SYIM spokesman said, foreign media reports, that the company had purchased steel for the shipbuilder between 2007 and 2008. 
“We paid for the steel upfront and then asked Jiangsu Rongsheng to reimburse the payment,” he said. 
However, Jiangsu Rongsheng first defaulted on payments in the second half of 2008. The shipbuilder failed to pay back an amount of Yuan60m at the end of January, the equivalent to the settlement of 10,000 tonnes of steel, the spokesman said. 
The spokesman said that steel price fell substantially in the second half last year. The two parties therefore found discrepancy over the price they had agreed on. 
SYIM has filed a case against the shipbuilder in the Intermediate People’s Court of Nantong. 
“The case is still pending at the moment”, the spokesman said. 
China State Shipbuilding Corp research center analyst Bao Zhangjin said, “Jiangsu Rongsheng probably found the steel price was too high and wanted to renegotiate the price with steel suppliers. I think the default was nothing to do with the company’s financial status.” 
Jiangsu Rongsheng is one of the largest private shipbuilders in China with a total investment of Yuan5bn. The shipyard currently has 83 vessels on order including four 400,000 dwt very large ore carriers ordered by Oman Shipping Co in June. 
Published : November 6, 2009 |
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