The day has got warm and the sunshine has become bright with spring coming, however Chinese shipyards are still facing gloomy days.
According to Clarkson, the assessments for bulker, tanker and containership has kept declining, almost near the record low since 2004. The main shipbuilders in China are all confronted with bleak orders.
By the end of February, the value for Capesize, Panamax and Hanymax bulker has declined by different degrees to $47.0m, $27.5m and $25.5m. In tanker market, VLCC, Suezmax and Aframax tankers has seen mild drop in newbuilding prices to $97.5m, $59.0m and $51.5m. Prices for containership also went downturn in recently months.
Some insiders put forward that the newbuidling prices has been near the lowest level and may see rebounding. However, some others say that the prices will continue the falling trend to an unpredictable low.
It seems that most market players agree with the latter opinion. An analyst in China Fortune Securities says they are not so optimistic about the shipbuilding market this year. The decline of Clarkson indices demonstrates the lasting oversupply in shipping market. Shipowners still face losses and are unlikely to invest in new orders. As a result, shipyards have to vie for the limited orders with even lower prices.
By February this year, global new orders for bulker have come to 1.39m dwt, nearly 60% down against the same period of last year. Among the top 10 shipyards in China, SWS is the only one to win new orders of 745.2k dwt while only 1.29m dwt tonnage was ordered nationally in the whole month.