LaycanDeskVietnam to China wood chip freight - Quy Nhon, Chu Lai, Vung Ang and Hon La to the Chinese pulp mills
Acacia and eucalyptus chips from the central Vietnamese chip ports to the pulp mills of Guangxi, Hainan, Shandong and Jiangsu, the largest wood chip lane in the world. Quy Nhon, Chu Lai, Dung Quat, Vung Ang, Hon La and Cai Lan to Qinzhou, Beihai, Yangpu, Rizhao, Weifang and Changshu: acacia and eucalyptus plantation chips sold in bone-dry tonnes, on dedicated chip carriers and geared Supramax tonnage, on a lane that supplied 11.1 million BDMT, 70.8 percent of China's hardwood chip imports, in 2025.
Vietnam is the world's largest exporter of hardwood chips and China its main buyer. China imported 15.6 million bone-dry tonnes of hardwood chips in 2025, and Vietnam supplied 11.1 million of them, 70.8 percent, at USD 186 per BDMT CIF in December 2025 against USD 235 for Australian chips; Vietnam's own customs counted about 7.8 million tonnes of chip exports in the first half of 2026, up 9.4 percent, at USD 173.7 a tonne, with China taking 68.6 percent. The chips are acacia and eucalyptus from the plantations of central and northern Vietnam, loaded at the chip ports: Quy Nhon, Chu Lai and Dung Quat in the centre, Vung Ang and Hon La in Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, Cai Lan in the north; Chu Lai alone handles 35 to 40 ships a month, mostly chips and pellets. The receivers are the pulp mills on the Chinese coast, in Guangxi at Qinzhou and Beihai, on Hainan at Yangpu, in Shandong at Rizhao and Weifang, and on the Yangtze at Changshu. The passages are short, on route-model estimates under two days from Quy Nhon to Qinzhou and about six days from Hon La to Weifang at 12 knots, so the port time decides the round voyage.
Chips fill a ship on volume: at the IMSBC stowage factor of 3.07 cubic metres a tonne a Supramax of 60,000 to 70,000 cubic metres lifts only about 20,000 to 23,000 tonnes as loaded, roughly 10,000 to 11,500 BDMT, while the 17,000 to 20,000 BDMT lots the Chinese mills buy fit a dedicated chip carrier of 108,000 to 123,000 cubic metres. A stem goes to owners with the species and whether the chips are debarked, the quantity in BDMT or green tonnes with 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 where the mill buys against it and the phytosanitary certificate China requires. The chips travel under the IMSBC WOODCHIPS schedule, a Group B cargo that depletes the oxygen in the holds. Every counterparty is screened before an offer and every ship by IMO number, and the charterer hears back with named ships and open dates. We work by email.
Load ports
- Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh)
- Chu Lai and Dung Quat (Quang Nam, Quang Ngai)
- Vung Ang and Hon La (Ha Tinh, Quang Binh)
- Cai Lan (Quang Ninh)
Discharge ports
- Qinzhou and Beihai (Guangxi)
- Yangpu (Hainan)
- Rizhao and Weifang (Shandong)
- Changshu (Jiangsu, Yangtze)
Cargoes
- Acacia and eucalyptus chips, sold in BDMT
- 17,000–20,000 BDMT on a chip carrier; about 10,000–11,500 BDMT on a Supramax
- Vietnam 11.1 M BDMT to China in 2025, 70.8% of China's hardwood chips
- IMSBC WOODCHIPS, Group B, stowage factor 3.07 m³/t
Ships that carry it
The cargo itself, on Commbril
The cargo from the freight side
Questions charterers and owners ask
Supramax or chip carrier for a Vietnamese chip cargo?
It depends on the lot. At 3.07 cubic metres a tonne a Supramax of 60,000 to 70,000 cubic metres carries about 20,000 to 23,000 tonnes of chips as loaded, roughly 10,000 to 11,500 BDMT. The 17,000 to 20,000 BDMT lots the Chinese mills buy need a dedicated chip carrier of 108,000 to 123,000 cubic metres, which also discharges herself. Give the quantity in BDMT and the mill's unloading arrangement and the ship is matched to both.
How long is the passage to the mills?
Short. On route-model estimates at 12 knots, Quy Nhon to Qinzhou in Guangxi is under two days and Hon La or Vung Ang to Weifang in Shandong about six, port to port. Loading and discharge take longer than the passage on the southern runs, so the load rate and the berth arrangements decide the round voyage.
Is the quantity in green or bone-dry tonnes?
The trade is priced in bone-dry metric tonnes, the wood without its water, while the ship carries green tonnes, chips that are roughly half water. A stem of 20,000 BDMT is about 40,000 tonnes as loaded. The enquiry must say which unit the quantity is in and give the moisture, or the cubic cannot be checked.
What papers does a chip cargo into China need?
A phytosanitary certificate issued at the load port, with any treatment recorded on it where the chips carry bark, and the plantation certification (FSC or PEFC) where the mill buys against it. On the ship's side the shipper's IMSBC declaration with the moisture. The receiving mill confirms its current import conditions before the cargo is fixed.