Vietnamese steelmaker Hoa Phat has contracted Haiphong-based Nam Trieu Shipbuilding, better known as NASICO, to build a 65,000 dwt ultramax bulk carrier, pushing its dry bulk fleet programme deeper into domestic territory.

Hoa Phat Shipping signed the newbuilding contract with NASICO, with Vietnamese firm Viet Han Ship Design and Technical Services handling the vessel's design. Neither the contract value nor a delivery date was disclosed.

The order marks another step in Hoa Phat's strategy to bring more transport of raw materials for its steelmaking operations in-house, rather than rely on third-party tonnage in a market where ultramax rates have swung sharply with commodity flows.

From secondhand buying to newbuilds

Hoa Phat established its shipping arm in 2019 and has steadily assembled a dry bulk fleet. The group's early buying spree came in 2021, when it picked up three secondhand bulkers, including the 80,000 dwt kamsarmax The Prosperity, acquired for $35m.

Since then, the fleet has moved decisively into larger tonnage. In July 2025, Hoa Phat put the 110,000 dwt The Momentum into service, the largest ship it had operated to date. The vessel can carry nearly 40% more cargo per voyage than the roughly 80,000 dwt kamsarmaxes in the rest of its fleet.

The Momentum works primarily on raw material import lanes, hauling iron ore and coal from Australia, the Americas and other Asian markets to the group's Dung Quat steel complex in central Vietnam. That trade lane sits at the heart of the fleet expansion: Dung Quat's feedstock demand gives Hoa Phat Shipping a captive cargo base that few independent operators can match.

Why the domestic yard matters

Choosing NASICO over established export yards in China, Japan or South Korea carries commercial weight. For Hoa Phat, it locks in capacity at home, supports Vietnam's shipbuilding sector, and likely shortens the logistics and oversight chain for a first-time ultramax newbuild programme. For Vietnamese shipbuilding, a repeat customer of Hoa Phat's scale signals a credible entry into the mid-size dry bulk segment.

For Vietnamese dry bulk operators and the foreign owners competing on intra-Asia raw material routes, the calculus is straightforward: every vessel Hoa Phat adds removes cargo from the spot market. Iron ore and coal volumes moving from Australia and the Americas to Dung Quat are increasingly sailed on the steelmaker's own account, tightening the addressable cargo pool for independent owners in the region.

Forwarders and chartering desks serving Vietnamese industrial clients may also see incremental displacement, as captive tonnage covers volumes previously tendered out.

A 15-to-20-ship ambition

Hoa Phat has laid out a longer-term plan for a fleet of around 15 to 20 ships, split by function. Larger vessels will handle international raw-material imports, feeding Dung Quat and any future capacity at the complex, while smaller tonnage will cover domestic movements of finished steel to Vietnamese distribution points.

The two-tier structure mirrors the logistics model of integrated steel producers elsewhere in Asia, where owned fleets absorb the volatile import leg and coastal distribution runs on flexible, smaller units.

With The Momentum already in service and the NASICO ultramax now on order, the fleet count is trending towards that 15-to-20 target, and each subsequent order — domestic or foreign-built — will push more of Vietnam's raw material import trade onto Hoa Phat's own hulls.