The LNG ship market is hot: the daily rent has increased by 6 times compared with the beginning of the year, and the Chinese shipyard has risen strongly

　　The LNG ship market is hot:

　　The daily rent has increased by 6 times compared with the beginning of the year, and the value of orders in Chinese shipyards has increased by 10 times in 5 years

　　LNG carrier

　　There are only two ways of long-distance natural gas transportation: pipeline gas transportation and large-scale transportation of natural gas after low-temperature liquefaction of large-scale LNG ships, and LNG ships are considered to be a symbol of the competitiveness of the high-end ship market.

　　market outlook

　　The daily rental level of LNG ships in the spot market has reached a maximum of 450,000 US dollars per day, which is 6 times higher than that at the beginning of this year; the value of global LNG ship orders in the first three quarters of this year has reached 28.706 billion US dollars, an increase of more than 10 billion US dollars over last year. .

　　Chinese shipyard

　　In the past, more than 90% of the LNG ship market share was taken by the three major Korean ship companies.

In recent years, Chinese shipyards have risen strongly, and their market share has been increasing year by year.

Last year, China's market share of new LNG ships in the world reached 10%, which has expanded to 25% this year.

　　Red Star Capital Bureau reported on October 20, data from shipping intelligence provider VesselsValue showed that in the past five years, the number of orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships won by Chinese shipyards increased from 10 in 2018 to 32 in the first three quarters of this year, far exceeding 13 orders for the whole of last year.

At the same time, the total order price of Chinese shipyards has also increased from US$563 million in 2018 to US$5.966 billion this year, a 10-fold increase in order value.

The breakthrough of Chinese shipyards in the field of LNG ships this year has also changed the monopoly situation of South Korea in this field in the past. Before this year, South Korean shipyards basically contracted more than 90% of the LNG ship market share.

　　The maximum daily rent of $450,000/day has increased by 6 times compared with the beginning of this year

　　There are only two ways to transport natural gas over long distances: one is pipeline gas transportation, and the other is to use large LNG ships to liquefy natural gas at low temperature for mass transportation.

　　With the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, EU countries have accelerated the "replenishment" of natural gas on a global scale in order to replace Russia's imported natural gas.

This has also ushered in a long-lost good year for the LNG ship newbuilding market.

　　With the soaring market demand, LNG shipping prices have repeatedly hit new highs.

The average spot rate for a 174,000-cubic-meter two-stroke LNG carrier on Sept. 23 rose 36 percent from a week earlier to $297,500 a day, according to Clarksons data.

　　The latest data from the Baltic Exchange shows that the daily rent of LNG carriers in the spot market has reached as high as US$450,000 per day, a six-fold increase from the beginning of this year.

　　With the high prosperity of the LNG transportation market, the LNG ship market has gradually heated up, and the order volume and price of LNG ships have risen.

　　According to statistics from Clarksons, as of the beginning of October, the world has ordered 128 LNG carriers this year, which is the highest level since statistics.

From 2018 to 2021, the global LNG carrier new ship transaction volume was 77, 60, 53 and 86 respectively.

　　In addition to the order volume, the order price is also climbing rapidly.

VesselsValue data shows that the value of global LNG ship orders has been rising quarter by quarter since the first quarter of 2021, and the value of global LNG ship orders reached US$17.53 billion in that year; This is an increase of more than $10 billion from last year's full year.

　　Strong rise of Chinese shipyards

　　The market share has increased rapidly in the past five years

　　According to public information, LNG carriers are internationally recognized ships with high added value and high technology gold content, and are known as the "jewel in the crown" of the shipbuilding industry.

In the international shipbuilding industry competition, LNG ships are considered to be a sign of the competitiveness of the high-end ship market.

　　In the past, more than 90% of the LNG ship market share was basically taken by the three major Korean shipbuilding companies: Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hudong Zhonghua was the only shipyard producing LNG ships in China.

　　In 2008, Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, broke the monopoly of South Korea and other countries and built and delivered China's first large-scale LNG carrier.

However, in 2018, Chinese manufacturers did not receive a single order for a large LNG carrier.

　　However, in recent years, Chinese shipyards have risen strongly, and their market share has been increasing year by year.

In 2021, China's market share of newly built LNG ships in the world will reach 10%, which has rapidly expanded to 25% this year.

　　Since the beginning of this year, Chinese shipyards have made major breakthroughs in the field of LNG ships.

Among them, Hudong Zhonghua has received orders for more than 20 large LNG ships this year.

In April this year, Qatar Energy announced that the construction contract for the first batch of four 174,000-cubic-meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers in the "Hundred Ships Plan" came into effect. The "Changheng Series" will also be built by Hudong Zhonghua.

　　With the advancement of China's shipbuilding technology, new forces continue to enter the market.

In addition to Hudong Zhonghua, which has been "outstanding" for many years, there are four Chinese shipyards that have the strength to build LNG ships.

　　In March this year, Jiangnan Shipbuilding received an order for two 175,000 cubic meters of LNG carriers from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, becoming the second domestic shipping company to enter the large-scale LNG carrier construction market.

In early April, DSIC became the third domestic company to enter the LNG carrier market.

　　In addition, two Chinese shipping companies have made significant progress in LNG ship qualification certification.

In September this year, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding officially obtained the French GTT company qualification certification, becoming the first private shipbuilding enterprise in China's shipbuilding industry to obtain this qualification.

On October 10, China Merchants Industry's self-designed and constructed membrane enclosure system simulation cabin was completed and obtained the GTT license, becoming the fifth domestic shipping company with this key technology.

　　Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Yu Yao, intern reporter Fan Di (Source: Chengdu Commercial Daily)