Despite the ongoing slowdown in the global shipbuilding industry, the Chinese shipbuilding industry has continued to grow at a decent pace, bracing itself against a national backdrop of increasing foreign trade, low labor costs and strong government support. It is expected that China will account for more than 50% of the global order book by 2012, at least according to a new research report entitled "China Shipbuilding Industry Forecast" released by Indian market research company RNCOS.
The world market has responded very positively lately, contrary to the heat other major industries have been feeling because of the economic slowdown. In July 2009 alone China built 12.33 million DWT (Dead Weight Tons), a year-on-year growth rate of more than 60%.
According to a Hellenic Shipping News analysis, one of the key reasons for the boosting of China's shipbuilding industry is to be found in the proactive role that the country's central government has played during the crisis. Beijing was quick to announce a series of new measures to boost the industry, and approved an enormous stimulus package to help the country's shipbuilders weather the evil times and return to a normal growth rate. The central government is also actively encouraging financial institutions to lend more to ship buyers and offer incentives for purchasers of ocean-going ships.
And the future looks bright for China's shipyards. Around 90% of international trade currently moves by sea, and as China recently pushed Germany down to second place as the world's largest exporter (521.7 billion USD worth of goods was moved out of the Middle Kingdom in the first half of 2009 alone), the potential for the shipbuilding industry in China is undeniably appealing. So much so that industry experts now predict the Chinese share in global shipbuilding to reach around 40% by 2012, up from from 29.5% in 2008.
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News category: China
Published on this site: Oct. 21, 2009
Source: hellenicshippingnews.com