In the January-May period this year, the aggregate shipbuilding output in China amounted to 13.32 million dead weight tons (dwt), down 20 percent year on year, 2.9 percentage points greater than the declining pace recorded in the first four months, as announced by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI).
In the given period, China’s new ship orders amounted to 11.58 million dwt, decreasing by 1.2 percent year on year, shifting from a year-on-year rise of 4.1 percent recorded in the January-April period. As of the end of May, ship orders on the books of Chinese shipbuilding enterprises totaled 79.92 million dwt, down 5.3 percent year on year, 0.5 percentage points slower than the decrease rate in the first four months of the current year.
In the January-May period this year, the aggregate shipbuilding output for export orders in China accounted for 92.4 percent of the total output.
Based on the monitored data of 75 major shipbuilding enterprises, in the first five months of the current year the Chinese shipbuilding enterprises in question registered an operating revenue of RMB 82.0 billion ($11.6 billion), down 6.9 percent year on year, and a gross loss of RMB 280 million ($39.5 million).
CANSI said the international shipping market remained slack in the January-May period amid the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide, resulting in insufficient demand in the shipbuilding market and also negatively affecting China’s shipbuilding industry.