More Work, Less Profit for Chinese Shipbuilders

Jinhai Heavy Industry Shipyard 

The latest data by the China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) reveals that Chinese shipbuilding companies received more orders but recorded declining profits in the first seven
months of 2014, China Daily reports. The CANSI described the shipbuilding market outlook as ”not optimistic” on the account of overcapacity and fiercer competition leading to fewer ship transactions and limited price hikes.

The report reveals that new shipbuilding orders spiked 42.5 percent from last year to 45.73 million deadweight tonnes (DWT) during the first seven months. However, completed shipbuilding volume fell 21.5 percent to 20.66 million DWT, according to CANSI. By the end of July, Chinese shipbuilders had incomplete orders totaling 153.45 million DWT, up 36.4 percent year on year.

Incomplete orders in the amount of 153.45 million DWT were recorded by the end of July, an increase of 36.4 percent year-on-year. CANSI reports that the overseas ship deliveries in the first seven months dropped 11.9 percent annually to 18.12 million DWT , close to 88 percent of total completed volume.

For the period of first seven months of 2014, the industrial output of China’s 87 large shipbuilders totaled 229.7 billion yuan (USD 37.2 billion), up 9.6 percent from a year ago, CANSI reports. On the other hand, combined profits of those shipbuilding companies declined 8.5 percent from a year ago to 4.07 billion yuan (USD 663.1 million) in the first seven months, according to CANSI.