• August20, 2014

The prospect of my country's shipbuilding industry still needs continuous efforts

Undertake orders for new ships of 40.8 million dwt, a year-on-year increase of 78.2, continuing to maintain its position. This figure is undoubtedly a long-lost benefit for the long-term downturn in the Chinese ship market.

In late July, China Shipbuilding Industry Association announced the market operation analysis of China's ship market in 2014. The data shows that from January to June 2014, the national shipbuilding completed 17.43 million dwt, a year-on-year decrease of 15.4. The order for new ships was 40.8 million dwt, an increase of 78.2. 16.1 increase at the end of 2013.

Unsatisfactory performance of the industry

According to statistics, in the first half of the year, the association focused on monitoring 87 enterprises in the shipping industry to complete industrial output value of 186 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9; main business income was 134.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.3; the total profit was affected by the large losses of individual enterprises, only 25.3 Among them, shipbuilding enterprises were 74.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3; ship supporting enterprises were 14.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.8; ship repair companies were 6.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.2.

In terms of exports, from January to June, the country completed 15.4 million dwt of export ships, a year-on-year decrease of 10.8; orders for export ships were 38.35 million dwt, a year-on-year increase of 82.3; at the end of June, hand-held export ship orders were 143.7 million dwt, a year-on-year increase of 51. Exports Ships accounted for 88.4, 94 and 94.5 of the national shipbuilding completions, new orders and hand-held orders respectively.

In the first half of the year, my country received 81 orders for various types of marine engineering equipment), including 11 jack-up drilling platforms, 3 semi-submersible drilling platforms, 3 drilling ships, 3 production platforms, and 59 marine auxiliary vessels. The contract value is 7.9 billion US dollars, and the world market share has increased to 32, ranking first.

Industry insiders analyzed that the main reasons for the continued decline in my country's shipbuilding completions in the first half of the year were: the transaction volume was small in 2011 and 2012, the shipping market was sluggish, and shipowners were not willing to accept ships.

At the same time, according to the market demand, my country's key key shipping enterprises have strengthened the research, development, optimization and upgrading of energy-saving and environmentally friendly mainstream ships and high-tech ships, so as to give full play to the competitive advantages of bulk carriers.

After 3-4 years of prosperity, the offshore engineering equipment market has entered a period of adjustment in the past two years. In particular, the trading volume of jack-up drilling platforms has an obvious downward trend, which is not conducive to the development of my country's offshore engineering equipment manufacturing industry, which is mainly engaged in the construction of jack-up platforms. It is necessary to increase its competitiveness in the offshore engineering market.

It can also be seen that the pace of adjustment of their product structure has been accelerated from the fact that key enterprises have strengthened the development of mainstream green and environmental protection ships and high-tech ships. A batch of orders for high-tech ships such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships, very large oil tankers, very large container ships, large bulk carriers and liquefied ethylene gas (LEG) ships, stainless steel chemical tankers, and scientific research ships is the proof of this process. .

It should be mentioned that, due to the increase in the number of ships under construction in the first half of the year, orders for ship ancillary products have seen a recovering increase. Statistics show that from January to May, the main business income of my country's ship supporting industry was 41.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.6. During the period, 6.76 million kilowatts of low and medium speed diesel engines were undertaken, and the power increased by 132% year-on-year; anchor winches, superchargers, propellers, The output and orders of low-speed engine crankshafts and other products increased year-on-year. In addition, by strengthening independent research and development, domestic marine engineering equipment such as large-scale towing machines, anchor winches, platform lifting devices, platform power stations, mooring chains and other supporting equipment can be replaced by imports, and the localization rate of supporting equipment for jack-up platforms is expected to reach 50%. or even higher.

Although the performance of the shipping industry is relatively stable in terms of figures, the market outlook is still not optimistic due to the difficulty of overcapacity, the difficulties in the operation of shipping companies, and the hindered rise in the price of new ships. In particular, the sharp decline in profits has increased the pressure on enterprises to transform and upgrade in the next step.

The contradiction between production and demand is still prominent

In 2014, two important indicators that affect the profitability of shipping companies, the ship price index and steel prices, showed different trends. Clarkson's new ship price index continued to rise for 12 consecutive months from 126 points in May 2013 to 140 points in May and June 2014. The price of some new ships has increased by 20-30% compared with the low point of last year, which has improved the profitability of shipyards to a certain extent, but the increase in the first half of this year is generally only about 5%, especially in June compared with May. , the price of some ships dropped slightly. In June, the price of 20mm steel plate was only 3,843 yuan / ton, and the steady and moderate decline of steel costs is also conducive to the maintenance of profitability for shipbuilding companies.

According to the statistics of some institutions, the shipping capacity has reached 1.69 billion deadweight tons. In recent years, the shipping volume is about 9.5 billion tons, and the problem of excess capacity is prominent. At the same time, the Clarkson Composite Freight Index is still in the weak area of USD 10,000-15,000/day, the Baltic Dry Bulk Index (BDI) is less than 900 points, and the shipowners are underpowered for new ships.

Analysts believe that in the next 2-3 years, the ship market demand will be about 100 million deadweight tons, and due to the booming period of the ship market, the shipbuilding capacity has reached 200 million deadweight tons. In recent years, under the background of the downturn in the ship market and the difficulty in receiving orders from shipyards, some production capacity has withdrawn from the market, but the contradiction between excess production capacity and insufficient demand is still prominent, and this pattern cannot be fundamentally changed soon.

Handing over a good ship is the last word for development

On the surface, orders have increased a lot, and many key shipping companies in my country have plans to ship berths (docks) until 2016, but the price of new ships is low, and the proportion of down payment is not high; many companies have difficulty in financing guarantees, which affects the delivery of ships. Progress, loss of new orders also occur frequently.

However, due to the generally low ship price, strict prepayment conditions, and higher technical requirements for ships, there is also a certain risk in delivery. Therefore, the difficult situation of enterprises in the shipbuilding industry has not been fundamentally changed. Deep-seated problems such as insufficient independent innovation capability, low production efficiency, lagging development of supporting industries, urgent need to cultivate excellent and strong enterprises, and prominent contradictions in excess capacity still hinder the development of the industry.

Picking up a good ship and handing over a good ship is the last word for enterprise development. In response to this, people from the association suggested that all shipping companies, especially key shipping companies, should take receiving and handing over ships as the top priority, earnestly study the status of newly received ship orders, and avoid blindly accepting ship orders that are not suitable for the production capacity of enterprises. ; Classify and study the status of hand-held orders, ensure the delivery of key ships, and strengthen communication with ship owners in a timely manner for ships with certain problems. Only by picking up the ship and handing over the ship can we ensure the healthy, stable and sustainable development of the enterprise.

(From: China Ship Network)