Hoa Phat (HPG) Orders Vietnam's Largest Ever 65,000 DWT Cargo Ship

Overview

Công ty Cổ phần Vận tải biển Hòa Phát, the shipping subsidiary of Hòa Phát Group (HPG, HOSE), signed a contract with Nam Trieu Shipbuilding (NASICO) on 28 September 2026 in Hải Phòng to build a 65,000 DWT cargo vessel designated S650-01. Nam Trieu describes the 65,000 DWT class as the largest cargo ship ever designed and directly built in Vietnam. For HPG, the order extends a multi-year effort to internalise maritime transport for steelmaking inputs.

Key Facts

• Contract signed 28 September 2026 in Hải Phòng between Công ty CP Vận tải biển Hòa Phát and Công ty TNHH MTV Đóng tàu Nam Triệu (NASICO), a member of shipbuilding group SBIC.
• Vessel design code S650-01; 65,000 DWT, approximately 200 m long and 32.26 m wide.
• VIET HAN (Công ty CP Thiết kế và Dịch vụ Kỹ thuật tàu thủy Việt - Hàn) is the design unit.
• Nam Trieu states the 65,000 DWT class is the largest cargo vessel ever designed and directly constructed in Vietnam.
• Hòa Phát Shipping was established on 24 October 2019 as a Hòa Phat Group member company.
• On 2 July 2025 Hòa Phát put the 110,000 DWT bulk carrier The Momentum into operation, its largest vessel to date, roughly 40% more cargo per voyage than its earlier ~80,000 DWT Kamsarmax ships.
• Domestic shipping volumes reached about 1.5 million tonnes in 2025, equal to 155% of plan, per Hòa Phát’s 2025 annual report.
• HPG closed at 20,200 on 28 September 2026.

What Happened

At the signing ceremony in Hải Phòng, NASICO formalised a newbuild order with Hòa Phát’s shipping unit for a 65,000 DWT bulk carrier. Doãn Quang Thịnh, Director of Công ty CP Vận tải biển Hòa Phát, said the company expects the project to be delivered to the required standards of quality, schedule and safety. The article does not disclose the contract value, delivery date or financing terms.

Nam Trieu framed the order as a capability milestone: the 65,000 DWT series is the largest cargo vessel class ever designed and built inside Vietnam, with the hull approaching 200 m in length. The article notes that a second vessel in the same series, named Trường Minh (DB66-02), is under construction at Nam Trieu for Đông Bắc Shipbuilding Industry JSC, indicating the yard is building out a repeatable design rather than a one-off hull.

Market Context

HPG trades on HOSE and closed at 20,200 on 28 September 2026, the session of the announcement. The order fits Hòa Phát’s pattern since 2019 of steadily raising fleet tonnage, culminating in the 110,000 DWT The Momentum in July 2025, which the group’s 2025 annual report described as the first step in restructuring the fleet toward larger cargo capacity and lower logistics cost. Domestic shipping volumes of roughly 1.5 million tonnes in 2025, at 155% of plan, show the internal transport arm is scaling faster than originally budgeted. The news sits within the broader Vietnamese steel and dry-bulk logistics theme, where integrated producers are seeking to control freight costs on iron ore and coal imports from Australia, the Americas and Asia.

Strategic Significance

The thesis is vertical integration of input logistics. Hòa Phát’s Dung Quat steel complex depends on seaborne iron ore and coal, and freight is a direct swing factor in HPG’s cost curve relative to regional producers. Owning tonnage converts a variable third-party freight cost into owned capacity, and larger hulls lower cost per tonne on long-haul routes. Ordering domestically also keeps capital inside Vietnam’s shipbuilding supply chain and builds a local reference design that could support repeat orders. The 65,000 DWT size is smaller than The Momentum, suggesting a mixed fleet optimised for both long-haul imports and more flexible regional or domestic routes rather than a single maximum-size strategy.

What to Watch

• Contract value, delivery schedule and payment terms, which the signing announcement did not disclose.
• Progress on the S650-01 hull at Nam Trieu and the parallel DB66-02 (Trường Minh) unit for Đông Bắc.
• Hòa Phát’s 2026 annual report for updated fleet tonnage, domestic volumes versus plan, and logistics cost commentary.
• HPG quarterly results for gross margin evidence that owned shipping is lowering input costs.
• Any further newbuild orders or secondhand vessel purchases by Hòa Phát Shipping.