(Yicai) April 24 -- Shares of Dajin Heavy Industry, a major Chinese supplier of offshore wind turbine foundations, gained after the company said it has secured its first ever orders for large bulk carriers in two deals worth about USD591 million.

Dajin Heavy [SHE: 002487] closed 4 percent higher at CNY88.66 (USD12.97) per share in Shenzhen today, extending the stock’s rise to 71 percent since the end of last year.

A subsidiary of Dajin Heavy will build the eight vessels, each of 210,000 deadweight tonnage, for two clients in Europe, the firm said in a stock exchange filing late yesterday. One order is worth about USD294 million and the other USD297 million. Deliveries are scheduled for between 2028 and 2029.

Long focused on manufacturing offshore wind power equipment, Beijing-based Dajin Heavy started building ships after its base in Panjin, a coastal city in China’s Liaoning province, was completed and began operating in 2023.

Last year, Dajin Heavy signed its first shipbuilding contract with a Korean company for a special transport vessel for offshore wind projects and inked another with a Norwegian shipowner for an unpowered semi-submersible barge, marking its entry into Europe's shipbuilding market.

The new contracts show that Dajin Heavy's shipbuilding capabilities have gained further recognition from international clients and they are expected to positively impact future earnings results, according to the company.

One of the two clients is a Norwegian firm active in fleet operations, new ship-building investment, second-hand ship trading, long-term leasing, and offshore engineering projects, Dajin Heavy said. The other is a Greek business that runs a modern large container fleet on long-term charter contracts and also leases Capesize dry bulk carriers.

Editor: Martin Kadiev