LaycanDeskWood chip bulk freight - hardwood chips to China and Japan on chip carriers and geared bulkers
Acacia and eucalyptus chips from Vietnam, Australia, South Africa, Thailand and South America to the pulp mills of China and Japan, a cargo that fills the holds long before the ship is down to her marks. Freight for hardwood pulp chips: acacia and eucalyptus chips shipped in bone-dry tonnes from Vietnam, Australia, Thailand, South Africa, Chile and Brazil to Chinese and Japanese pulp mills, on dedicated self-unloading chip carriers of 50,000 to 60,000 DWT and on geared Supramax tonnage, under the IMSBC WOODCHIPS schedule with its oxygen-depletion and fire rules.
Wood chips are the lightest bulk cargo in regular trade. The IMSBC Code's WOODCHIPS schedule, mandatory in its current form from 1 January 2025, gives a bulk density of 326 kg per cubic metre and a stowage factor of 3.07 cubic metres a tonne, so a ship fills her holds long before she reaches her marks: a Supramax of 60,000 to 70,000 cubic metres lifts only about 20,000 to 23,000 tonnes of chips, while a dedicated chip carrier of 52,800 DWT carries 108,300 cubic metres and one of 60,300 DWT 122,500, discharging herself with her own cranes, hoppers and conveyors. The trade is sold in bone-dry metric tonnes (BDMT), the wood without its water, and green chips are roughly half water, so the stem has to say whether its quantity is green or bone-dry before the cubic is checked. China imported 15.6 million BDMT of hardwood chips in 2025, 9.8 percent less than in 2024, 70.8 percent of it from Vietnam and 17.9 percent from Australia; Japan imported 8.9 million tonnes, 48 percent from Vietnam, then South Africa, Thailand, Australia and Chile. FWPA puts the weighted average price into China and Japan at USD 182.50 per BDMT CIF in 2025.
The schedule lists woodchips as a Group B cargo, a combustible solid: chips deplete the oxygen in a closed hold, completely in under 48 hours, and dry chips below 15 percent moisture ignite easily, even by friction. Holds and adjacent spaces are entered only when the atmosphere reads 20.7 percent oxygen, with a meter worn, and a fire is fought by battening down. Owners want the shipper's declaration with the moisture before they load. A chip stem goes to owners with the species and whether the chips are debarked, the quantity in BDMT or green tonnes with tolerance, the moisture, the load port and its loader, the discharge mill and berth with its unloading arrangement, the rates and terms, the laycan, the commission and the charterer's name, with the plantation certification (FSC or PEFC) where the mill buys against it and the phytosanitary certificate the importing country requires. It goes to owners of chip carriers and geared Supramax tonnage opening in Southeast Asia and the Far East, and comes back with named ships and open dates. We work by email.
How it ships
- IMSBC WOODCHIPS schedule, Group B (MHB: combustible solid)
- Stowage factor 3.07 m³/t, bulk density 326 kg/m³
- Oxygen depletion in under 48 hours; entry at 20.7% O2 only
- Sold in bone-dry metric tonnes (BDMT)
- Fills on volume, not deadweight
Ships
- Chip carriers 50,000–60,000 DWT, 108,000–123,000 m³, self-unloading
- Geared Supramax 60,000–70,000 m³: about 20,000–23,000 t of chips
- Up to 70,000 DWT, 142,000 m³ (largest built, 2020)
Trade, 2025
- China 15.6 M BDMT hardwood chips: Vietnam 70.8%, Australia 17.9%
- Japan 8.9 Mt: Vietnam 48%, South Africa, Thailand, Australia, Chile
- China and Japan average USD 182.50/BDMT CIF (FWPA)
Ships that carry it
The cargo itself, on Commbril
Lanes we work for this cargo
Questions charterers and owners ask
Why does a wood chip cargo fill a ship on volume?
Because chips are light: the IMSBC WOODCHIPS schedule gives a stowage factor of 3.07 cubic metres a tonne. A Supramax with 60,000 to 70,000 cubic metres of holds carries only about 20,000 to 23,000 tonnes of chips, far below her deadweight, which is why the trade runs dedicated chip carriers with 108,000 to 123,000 cubic metres on 50,000 to 60,000 DWT. The cubic, not the tonnage, decides the ship.
What is a BDMT, and why does it matter for the fixture?
A bone-dry metric tonne is the wood with its water taken out, the unit the pulp mills buy and the market prices in. Green chips are roughly half water, so 20,000 BDMT is about 40,000 tonnes as loaded. The ship carries the green tonnes, so the enquiry has to give the quantity, say which unit it is in, and give the moisture.
What are the safety rules for chips in the hold?
Woodchips are a Group B cargo under the IMSBC Code. They use up the oxygen in a closed hold, completely in under 48 hours, so holds and adjacent spaces are entered only when the atmosphere reads 20.7 percent oxygen and with an oxygen meter worn. Dry chips below 15 percent moisture ignite easily, even by friction, and a hold fire is fought by battening down. Owners ask for the shipper's moisture declaration before loading.
Chip carrier or geared bulker?
A chip carrier discharges herself with cranes, hoppers and conveyors and carries twice the cubic of a Supramax, so she suits mills that receive full cargoes of 17,000 to 20,000 BDMT. A geared Supramax suits a smaller lot or a berth with shore grabs and conveyors. Send the quantity in BDMT, the load and discharge berths and how each loads and unloads, and the right ship is matched.