China’s shipbuilding industry is expected to face grim futures this year due to rising labor costs, increasing raw materials price and yuan appreciation, the China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) said in a report on May 19.
According to the association’s statistics, 313 of the 1,519 Chinese shipbuilders over designated size ran in the red during the first quarter, with losses totaling 1.1 billion yuan ($170 million), increasing 28.8% from a year earlier.
In the first four months, China newbuilding output and new orders amounted to 18.8m dwt and 13.6m dwt, increasing by 1.2% and 6.6% year-on-year respectively. While combined orderbook fell by 6.2% to 183.8m dwt from the end of 2010, according to the association.
CANSI put forward that from the beginning of 2011, demand in the international shipbuilding market has been changing in favor of large-sized containerships, LNG carriers and value-added offshore plants, which are dominated by Korean and Singaporean shipyards. About half of Chinese shipbuilders received no new orders and even some even just stayed idle with running out orders so far this year.