Benefiting from the rapid development of the international shipping industry, China's shipbuilding industry has undertaken a large number of new ship orders from all over the world. The reporter visited several large shipbuilding bases in Shanghai and found that their new orders have increased significantly.
Shanghai: Demand continues to be hot Shipyard orders are scheduled four years later
At the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Base on Changxing Island in Shanghai, three of the world's largest container ships and one liquefied gas ship are docked at the terminal. It is understood that this year's orders for container ships, gas ships and car ro-ro ships are very large, with a total of 24 ships, which has exceeded the level of last year.
Lin Qingshan, deputy general manager of Jiangnan Shipbuilding of China Shipbuilding Group: So far, civil ship orders have been undertaken about 300 billion yuan, all of which have been received in 2026, and almost half in 2027, and even some production lines have been scheduled until 2028.
At another shipbuilding company in Waigaoqiao, Shanghai, the dock is busy, and a tanker that has just completed sea trials will be delivered to the Greek shipowner company at the end of this month. According to reports, this year's oil tanker orders have grown rapidly, mainly due to the aging of oil tankers.
Wang Nan, director of the liquid cargo ship room of the marketing department of China Shipbuilding Waigaoqiao: More than half of the ships in the entire oil tanker fleet are more than 15 years old, and the current proportion of the entire tanker holding orders accounts for less than 4% of the oil tanker fleet, so it promotes the positive attitude of ship owners to new shipbuilding.
Wang Nan said that this year's new orders can only start at the end of this year, and the entire construction cycle will take about one year.
Shipbuilding capacity is in short supply Ship prices are expected to continue to rise
Compared with the rapid growth of shipbuilding orders, the expansion of shipbuilding capacity is very slow, because shipbuilding has high requirements for geographical conditions, climatic conditions and labor conditions, so the number of new docks is relatively limited. At present, domestic shipyards can only expand capacity by improving efficiency, which takes several years or more.
The reporter learned in the interview that the current demand for ships is strong, coupled with the rise in raw material prices and the rise in comprehensive costs brought about by equipment upgrades, the price of new ships is continuing to rise.
Liu Chunting, General Manager of China Merchants Steamship Operation Management Department: For example, with a standard of 17,4 cubic meters and 17,5 cubic meters, the newbuilding price of large LNG carriers has increased from about 2 million US dollars each at the beginning of last year to nearly 2 million US dollars per vessel, an increase of nearly 6%.
Yan Hai, chief analyst of Shenwan Hongyuan transportation industry: The price of newbuilding is at the very bottom range, and the increase in ship prices, we think there is still a lot of room to exceed expectations. (CCTV News Client)