Chinese Shipbuilders Eye World Market

Dalian Shipyard and Guangzhou Shipyard International, two Chinese shipbuilding giants, signed a contract to build three 35,000 dwt oil product tankers for A. P. Moller-Maersk, the world's largest shipping group. The move comes about one year after Guangzhou Shipyard International won a bid to build four oil tankers of the same tonnage for the Denmark-based group. Analysts say the contract is a result of the Chinese shipbuilding industry's efforts to get into the world market.

"These contracts are an indication that our co-operation has entered a new stage," said Cheng Xiaojin, general manager of China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), the parent company of Guangzhou Shipyard International. The contract increased A. P. Moller-Maersk's total orders from China to 25 vessels, valued at more than US$750 million.
Chinese shipbuilders still face increasingly fierce competition on the world market especially from South Korea and Japan, the world's two largest shipbuilding nations. Analysts said the world market is very important for China's shipbuilding industry because the majority of orders for new vessels it has won are for export.

35000dwt Product Tanker Roy Maersk

According to the State Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, the domestic industry aims to capture 15 per cent of the world shipbuilding market within the next five years. The orders for new vessels on the world market last year totaled more than 60 million tons.