In the January-April period this year, the aggregate shipbuilding output in China amounted to 10.98 million dead weight tons (dwt), down 17.1 percent year on year, 10.2 percentage points slower than the declining pace recorded in the first three months, as announced by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI).
In the given period, China’s new ship orders amounted to 9.88 million dwt, increasing by 4.1 percent year on year, 2.4 percentage points slower than the year-on-year rise in the January-March quarter. As of the end of April, ship orders on the books of Chinese shipbuilding enterprises totaled 80.56 million dwt, down 5.8 percent year on year, 0.2 percentage points higher than the decrease rate in the first quarter of the year.
In the January-April period this year, the aggregate shipbuilding output for export orders in China accounted for 92 percent of the total output.
Based on the monitored data of 75 major shipbuilding enterprises, in the first four months of the year the Chinese shipbuilding enterprises in question registered an operating revenue of RMB 65.5 billion ($9.2 billion), down 7.1 percent year on year, and a gross loss of RMB 160 million ($22.5 million), down 62.8 percent year on year.
CANSI said the shipbuilding industry in the global market remained sluggish due to the coronavirus pandemic worldwide in the first four months of the year, though China’s new ship orders indicated a year-on-year rise amid the resumption of construction and production activities after the coronavirus was brought under effective control.