Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co, the country's top
shipbuilder, churned out 3.11 million deadweight-tons (DWT) of
ships last year, making it the world's eighth-largest shipyard.
This is the first time a domestic shipbuilder has crossed the 3
million DWT landing and leapt into the world's top 10 shipbuilding
league table by output.
"It is a milestone in the history of China's shipbuilding
industry," said Wu Di, the company's chairman, at a ceremony to
mark the event.
"Building on our success (in 2006), we will build an even
greater number of ships in 2007," said Chen Minjun, the company's
general manager, although he refused to disclose the specific
target.
Despite the rising cost of raw materials such as steel, the
shipbuilder still managed to rack up a record profit of 1 billion
yuan in 2006, the company said.
"This is largely thanks to our increased spending on production
technology and innovation, which offset the rising costs associated
with high steel and other material prices," said Chen.
The company has received orders for more than 80 ships, totaling
14 million DWT and valued at about $5 billion until 2010.
The huge orders also make the Shanghai-based shipyard one of the
world's top 10 ship makers in terms of orders received, according
to London-based shipbroker Clarkson Plc.
The country's flagship shipbuilder, jointly owned by China State
Shipbuilding Corporation, Baosteel, Shanghai Electric and the China
Shipbuilding Trading Corporation, delivered 2.17 million DWT in
2005, making it the first domestic shipyard to cross the 2 million
DWT mark.
The Shanghai-based shipbuilder, founded in 1999, made a profit
of 238 million yuan in 2005.
China, now the world's third-biggest shipbuilder by output after
Japan and South Korea, is striving to become the world's top
shipyard by 2015, by when the country is expected to build 24
million DWT of ships a year.
The country built about 12 million DWT of ships in 2005,
accounting for 18 percent of the world's total, according to
figures from the China Association of National Shipbuilding
Industry. The 2006 output is expected to have reached 14 million
DWT.
Chinese shipyards fulfilled about 20 percent of global orders
for ships in terms of cargo capacity, according to London-based
shipbroker Clarkson Plc. Hyundai, the world's biggest ship-maker
and other South Korean shipbuilders took 35 percent with Japan's
shipyards claiming about 32 percent, according to Clarkson.
(China Daily January 4, 2007)
