Chinese state-owned shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has announced that its net profit is expected to decrease by 95-100 percent year on year in 2012, due to declining volumes of ships under construction, falling prices, and the stagnant shipbuilding market.
In 2011, the net profit earned by CSSC amounted to RMB 2.252 billion ($361 million). However, in the first three quarters of 2012 the company’s net profit was only RMB 546 million ($87.5 million), constituting a record low for the corresponding period of the past three years. According to data released by Chinese customs, in the January-November period last year China’s ship exports totaled $36.57 billion, down 8.1 percent year on year. Meanwhile, it is expected that China’s monthly ship export value will continue to trend down in the first three or four months of 2013.