This aerial photo taken on July 23, 2023 shows a view of a shipbuilding industrial park in Qidong, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)
BEIJING, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's shipbuilding industry maintained steady growth momentum in 2023, with the three major shipbuilding indicators showing synchronized expansion, showed a report released by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) recently.
Last year, China solidified its status as a major shipbuilding nation, maintaining the top position in the global market share for 14 consecutive years.
The global market share of China's three major shipbuilding indicators, including shipbuilding completion volume, new orders, and holding orders, surpassed 50 percent for the first time.
CANSI anticipates that in 2024, China's shipbuilding completion volume will reach around 45 million deadweight tons, new orders will be approximately 55 million deadweight tons, and holding orders will remain above 130 million deadweight tons.
-- Significant increase in export value of shipbuilding products
According to data from CANSI, the national shipbuilding completion volume reached 42.32 million deadweight tons in 2023, marking an 11.8 percent year-on-year increase. The new order volume reached 71.20 million deadweight tons, a substantial growth of 56.4 percent compared to the previous year. By the end of December 2023, the holding order volume reached 139.39 million deadweight tons, reflecting an increase of 32 percent year on year.
In 2023, China's shipbuilding completion volume, new order volume, and holding order volume, measured in deadweight tons, accounted for 50.2 percent, 66.6 percent, and 55.0 percent of the global total, respectively. For the first time, the market share exceeded 50 percent in all three shipbuilding indicators, showing a year-on-year increase of 2.9 percentage points, 11.4 percentage points, and 6 percentage points, respectively, compared to 2022.
Among them, in 2023, the national completed export ships reached 34.53 million deadweight tons, an increase of 12.6 percent compared to the previous year; the orders for export ships reached 66.51 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 64.1 percent; by the end of December 2023, the holding orders for export ships reached 130.15 million deadweight tons, marking a 36.7 percent year-on-year increase.
In 2023, China's shipping products were exported to 191 countries and regions, with export amounts to Asia, Europe, and Latin America reaching 17.73 billion U.S. dollars, 2.9 billion U.S. dollars and 2.84 billion U.S. dollars, respectively.
-- Leading position in international market
In 2023, China's shipbuilding industry maintained a leading position in the international market, achieved breakthroughs in high-end equipment construction, and continuously optimized the structure of new ship orders.
In terms of the international market, by 2023, China's status as a major shipbuilding nation has been further consolidated, with its market share consistently ranking first globally for 14 consecutive years.
The international competitiveness of key Chinese shipbuilding enterprises continued to strengthen, with five, seven, and six enterprises respectively ranking among the top 10 in terms of ship completion volume, new order volume, and holding order volume. Among them, China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC) held the first position in all three indicators among global shipbuilding groups.
In 2023, China achieved breakthroughs in the construction of high-end equipment, witnessing the comprehensive development of ship and ocean products.
In November 2023, the first domestically-built large cruise ship was delivered and officially embarked on its maiden commercial voyage on January 1, 2024, marking China's establishment of the comprehensive assembly and construction capability for ship and ocean products.
In 2023, China's shipbuilding companies delivered 20 of the world's largest 24,000 TEU ultra-large container ships, four large-scale LNG carriers with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, and the world's largest shallow-water-channel 80,000 cubic meters LNG carrier.
At the same time, the structure of new ship orders continues to be optimized. In 2023, China's shipbuilding companies consolidated their advantage in ship types, seized opportunities in the segmented market rotation, and continuously optimized the structure of new ship orders.
Among the 18 major ship types worldwide, China ranked first in new orders for 14 ship types.
-- Expected growth in listed companies' performance
With the recovery of the shipbuilding industry, the performance of several listed companies in the shipbuilding sector was expected to greatly increase in 2023.
In 2023, CSSC was expected to achieve a net profit attributable to the parent company of 2.7 billion to 3.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1,470.95 percent to 1,761.87 percent.
Regarding the significant increase in performance, CSSC stated that the global new shipbuilding market is maintaining a good development trend in 2023. With the gradual clearance of previous low-priced ship orders, the company's order structure is continuously improving. In order to achieve the annual production target, the company strengthens production management and control, improves production efficiency, and achieves a significant increase in operating income compared to the same period of 2022, exceeding the annual target.
China Shipbuilding Industry Group Power Co., Ltd. estimated a net profit attributable to the parent company in the range of 650-820 million yuan for 2023, with a year-on-year growth of 95.38 percent to 146.48 percent. The company attributes the performance growth to the recovery of the shipbuilding industry, an expansion in the sales scale of the subsidiary in the diesel engine segment, a significant increase in orders, and a rise in the prices of its main product - marine low-speed engines, leading to an improvement in gross profit margin. Additionally, the increase in orders has resulted in a substantial growth in advance payments.
According to the latest economic outlook released by several international institutions, it is expected that the global economic growth rate will further slow down in 2024. Coupled with ongoing geopolitical conflicts and other factors, the global shipping and shipbuilding industries will face more challenges. However, as the decarbonization process in the industry accelerates, it is anticipated to have a positive impact on the new shipbuilding market.
CANSI indicates that the global shipbuilding completion volume is expected to remain at a historically high level of 100 million deadweight tons in 2024, with new orders ranging from 80 million to 100 million deadweight tons, and holding orders exceeding 200 million deadweight tons. China's shipbuilding completion volume will be around 45 million deadweight tons, with new orders of approximately 55 million deadweight tons, and holding orders exceeding 130 million deadweight tons. This is anticipated to continue driving the growth in the performance of related listed companies. (Edited by Yang Yifan with Xinhua Silk Road, yangyifan@xinhua.org)
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