Good advantages are realized into good benefits. China's shipbuilding industry report card has "highlights", "changes" and "innovations"

CCTV News: On July 16, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released my country's shipbuilding industry data for the first half of 2024. The three major indicators of China's shipbuilding industry continued to grow steadily.

Data shows that in the first half of 2024, my country's shipbuilding completion volume was 25.02 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 18.4%; new orders were 54.22 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 43.9%. As of the end of June, the backlog of orders was 171.55 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 38.6%. The three major indicators continued to account for 55%, 74.7% and 58.9% of the world market share respectively. Among the 18 major ship types in the world, China has 14 types of ship types with the largest number of new orders in the world.

Li Yanqing, Secretary General of the China Shipbuilding Industry Association, said that first of all, the market is expanding. Only with the market demand can my country's backlog orders and new orders continue to grow. In the first half of 2024, new orders accounted for nearly 75% of the world, indicating that China's shipbuilding industry can continue to grow. This is very good news and reflects my country's market capabilities. High-end ship orders are full and profits have nearly doubled year-on-year

In addition to the three major indicators that continue to lead the world, another very eye-catching indicator in the Chinese shipbuilding industry data released on July 16 is profit. In the first five months of 2024, the total profit of China's shipbuilding industry increased nearly two times year-on-year.

Data shows that from January to May, the country's large-scale shipbuilding enterprises achieved operating income of 253.24 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.3%; and achieved a total profit of 16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 187.5%.

At China Shipbuilding Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, the second domestically-made large cruise ship has entered an accelerated construction period, and 80% of the ship's structural sections have been completed. At another dock, 7,000-TEU container ships are also being manufactured at an accelerated pace. In the first half of 2024, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding delivered 12 such ships, setting a record of delivering one ship every two weeks on average.

It is not just Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. In the first half of 2024, the backlog of orders in my country's shipbuilding industry, calculated in terms of modified gross tonnage, has reached its highest level in nearly 20 years. Among these orders, there are more and more high-tech, high-difficulty and high-value-added ship types.

Among them, new breakthroughs were made in the construction of gas carriers, with the delivery of the world's largest 93,000 cubic meter ultra-large liquefied gas carrier, 99,000 cubic meter ultra-large ethane carrier, the world's first fifth-generation "Changheng Series" 174,000 cubic meter large LNG carrier and the world's first river-sea direct 14,000 cubic meter LNG bunkering carrier. The new orders for container ships accounted for 97.5% of the global market share.

Li Yanqing introduced that the ship price is at a historical high. In addition to this, it is also closely related to the product structure. By adjusting the product structure, many high-tech and high-value-added ships have been undertaken, which is also a very important factor in profitability.
In addition to the increasing number of orders and higher profits, the continued growth of China's shipbuilding exports has also seen an obvious change in the data for the first half of 2024, that is, more and more foreign shipowners have placed orders with Chinese shipyards. More than 70% of every 10 new shipbuilding orders in the world go to China, and China's shipbuilding exports continue to grow.

At a shipyard in Dalian, almost all the ships produced here are from foreign shipowners, and the orders received have been scheduled until 2028. The ships produced here not only satisfy the shipowners with their quality, but also have many exclusive technologies.

Jiang Hongliang, director of the production management department of China Shipbuilding Dalian Shipyard, said that the quality, operating efficiency and energy saving of their independently designed products have been highly recognized by ship owners. They meet the needs of ship owners in terms of cycle and the on-time delivery rate is 100%. 90% of international shipping companies have cooperative relations with them, and they have also expanded many ship companies that cooperate with Chinese shipyards for the first time, further expanding their market visibility and market share.

In the first half of 2024, my country's ship exports maintained steady growth, with the export value of ship products reaching US$20.67 billion, a year-on-year increase of 85.2%. From a monthly perspective, the average monthly export reached US$3.4 billion, with a year-on-year growth rate of more than 30%, ranking first among my country's key electromechanical product exports.

Li Yanqing introduced that China's shipbuilding has been recognized by the world, and about 75% of new orders prove that everyone is willing to cooperate with Chinese shipyards and ship companies. A new global industrial chain and supply chain development pattern with China as the center has been formed. The brand of Chinese shipbuilding represents not only quality, but also technological innovation and a complete service system, which is the most important aspect of new quality productivity. The results of structural transformation are obvious, and the proportion of green ships has increased.

In the latest data, there is another new trend that attracts attention, that is, "green ships made in China". In the first six months of 2024, the international share of my country's new green-powered ship orders reached 71.7%, achieving full coverage of mainstream ship types.

There are two main ways to achieve green transformation of ships. The first is to use green new fuels such as liquefied natural gas, methanol, and liquid ammonia as ship power. The other is to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction by optimizing ship power devices and adding new technologies such as desulfurization systems.

Peng Guisheng, director of the Marketing Department of China Shipbuilding Dalian Shipyard, said that judging from the newly signed orders, some customers have directly chosen alternative fuel ships. Overall, the trend of new shipbuilding orders towards green development is very certain, with green ship types accounting for about 60%.

Data shows that in the first half of 2024, my country's shipbuilding industry's new green-powered ship orders accounted for 71.7% of the international share, and achieved full coverage of mainstream ship types.

Peng Guisheng introduced that they had delivered the world's first VLCC (very large crude carrier) fueled by LNG. In 2024, they received the order for the world's first oil tanker fueled by liquid ammonia. The power system, fuel supply system, and storage system of green ships will bring additional value and have higher added value.

90% of global trade is completed by sea, and the environmental pollution caused by shipping has attracted great attention from the international community. The International Maritime Organization has proposed to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by around 2050.

In 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and other five departments jointly issued the "Action Outline for Green Development of Shipbuilding Industry (2024-2030)", proposing that by 2025, the green development system of the shipbuilding industry will be initially established. Green and low-carbon has become an inevitable trend in the development of the shipping industry. my country's shipbuilding industry has entered a "highly prosperous period"

A new term appeared in the Chinese shipbuilding data for the first half of 2024 released on July 16, called "highly prosperous period". What does this period mean? What changes will the shipbuilding market experience after entering this period?

In order to comprehensively reflect the development of shipbuilding industry enterprises and the operation status of the industry, the China Shipbuilding Industry Association has compiled the China Shipbuilding Industry Prosperity Index, which will be released to the public on a quarterly basis.

The prosperity index of China's shipbuilding industry takes 2013 as the benchmark of 100 points. According to the calculation results of historical data, the prosperity index is divided into four intervals: the index of 140 points and above is "highly prosperous", the index between 120-140 points is "normal-prosperous", the index between 100-120 is "weakly prosperous-normal", and the index below 100 is "unfavorable".

The year 2024 marks the first time since 2012 that China's shipbuilding industry prosperity index has exceeded 140 points, entering the "highly prosperous range".

Li Yanqing introduced that after more than 10 years of adjustment, my country's shipbuilding industry has entered this range again. This shows that under the current market conditions, the production status, order level and profit level of enterprises are all in a very ideal situation. During this period, shipbuilding enterprises should do their best to ensure the delivery of ships, deliver ships quickly and deliver good ships, so that the good shipbuilding advantages can be realized as soon as possible into good economic benefits.