Chinese shipbuilding orders take a hit

Chinese shipyards saw new shipbuilding orders fall to 940,000 dwt in September -- the lowest monthly figure since June 2009 -- reports Xinhua, citing a report by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

About 30 percent of China's 1,526 shipbuilding enterprises got no new orders in September and some smaller and mid-sized ones had to close, or stop production, said the NDRC.

Falling orders and rising costs meant 249 enterprises made losses in the first three quarters of 2011, 37.9 percent more than a year ago. Their total loses stood at 2.66 billion yuan ($420 million) at the end of August, according to the report.

For the first three quarters, new Chinese shipbuilding orders slumped 42.8 percent year-on-year to 29.02 million dwt and the order backlog fell 13.8 percent to 168.86 million dwt.

Shipbuilding output reached 51.01 million dwt from January to September, an increase of 18.3 percent on the previous year. Exports accounted for 84.4 percent of total output,in dwt terms..

Xinhua quotes the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) as projecting the country's shipbuilding industry will continue to slow moderately in the fourth quarter, with a downbeat outlook for new orders and sharp declines in existing orders. Xinhua says CANSI predicts that more than 60 million DWT of ships will be completed this year.

The news agency says that the China Newbuilding Price Index weakened by 0.3 percent to 952 points during the reporting period between Oct. 15 and Oct. 30. (MarineLog)

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