Shipyards in Japan, the world's third-largest shipbuilding nation, reported 69 percent fewer orders in January and forecast a third year of declines in 2009 as the global recession slashes demand for new vessels.
Orders were received for 193,700 compensated gross tons last month, the Japan Ship Exporters Association said in an e-mailed statement. The yards, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co., had orders for 625,823 million tons a year earlier.
The deepening financial crisis has dried up funds and global demand for commodities, prompting owners and operators of vessels to hold back purchases. The Baltic Dry Index, a benchmark of demand for shipping dry goods, fell 75 percent in the past year.
"The serious global economic recession has slowed marine transportation," Masamoto Tazaki, chairman of the 20-member Shipbuilders' Association of Japan, said today at a press conference in Tokyo. "The industry will have to be ready for sluggish orders for new ships."
There have been no reports of vessel order cancellations at Japanese shipyards even as the number of contracts falls, he said.
Japanese yards will seek a drop in steel plate prices for contracts starting April 1 as demand for the metal falls from carmakers and machinery companies and prices decline for steelmaking commodities such as coking coal.
"It's natural that steel prices should go down substantially, as prices of the raw materials are declining," Tazaki said.
Japanese steelmakers want a 67 percent cut in the annual contract price for coking coal because of a slump in global demand for the alloy, Macquarie Group Ltd. analysts said in a report yesterday.
Compensated gross ton is an industry measure of ship size, the time required and materials used in production.
Source: Taiwan News
Showing posts with label shipbuilding plate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shipbuilding plate. Show all posts
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
Korean Shipbuilders Increase Steel Plate Purchases
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipbuilder, along with two South Korean competitors will raise steel purchases by at least 11 per cent bolstering Asian steelmakers reeling from the global recession.
Hyundai, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. will buy at least 7.8 million metric tons of steel plates to make ship hulls this year, the world’s three largest yards said in interviews.
The Korean orders may support earnings at Asian steelmakers including China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. and Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., as demand from carmakers and builders dropped. But Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. may double planned output cuts amid the recession, executives said today.
“Demand from shipyards is basically the only bright spot for steelmakers this year because supply still lags demand,” Kim Yong Soo, an analyst at SK Securities Co., said in Seoul. “For shipbuilders, it’s going to mean higher costs.”
Steel is the single biggest material cost for shipyards. Plate prices in China, the largest steel producing nation, dropped 26 percent last year as smaller shipyards struggled to fulfill contracts.
Samsung Heavy plans to increase steel purchases 20 percent to 1.8 million tons, spokesman I. Chan Hwang said. Daewoo Shipbuilding will buy 2 million tons this year, 33 percent more than last year, according to an e-mailed statement. Hyundai Heavy, will buy more than the 4 million tons ordered in 2008, said spokesman Kim Ki Young, without specifying the amount.
“Demand for the steel material by shipyards will remain strong until next year because of the backlogs,” said Song Sang Hoon, an analyst at Kyobo Securities Co. in Seoul.
The Korean yards are fulfilling orders won in 2006. Ulsan-based Hyundai, Seoul-based Samsung and Daewoo said they will buy from Asian companies, including Posco and Dongkuk Steel, which gets half its sales from plates.
Baoshan last month said it will raise capacity for plates by 29 percent. The Shanghai-based company supplies Hyundai Heavy and Samsung Heavy.
Falling demand may force Europe’s ArcelorMittal and ThyssenKrupp AG to write down as much as $6.09 billion, Tim Huff, a Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc analyst, wrote on 6 Jan. Nippon Steel, the world’s second-largest maker, may double output cuts by closing a furnace, executives said today.
Daewoo Shipbuilding said on Jan. 5 that it expects to post record sales of more than 13 trillion won ($9.7 billion) this year. Hyundai Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding have yet to announce their business plans.
The three yards, with $135 billion of contracts for vessels and deep-sea platforms, are maintaining orders even as rivals fail. C&Heavy Industries Co., a South Korea shipbuilder that has yet to deliver its first vessel, is seeking protection from creditors to avoid bankruptcy.
Orders for new vessels, which take as long as three years to build, slowed 42 percent in the first 11 months of 2008 as world trade slumped, hurting small and new yards.
About 30 percent of Chinese orders won in 2007 were cancelled, said Cho In Karp, an analyst at Good Morning Shinhan Securities Co. in Seoul. About half of the 30 shipbuilders in South Korea may close or move into another business, he said.
“Everyone seems to agree that it’ll be tough” through the first half of 2009, Kim Tae Hoon, vice president of Hanjin Shipping Co. said in Seoul. “We are hoping the market will start to pick up slowly from the second half.”
Source: Bloomberg
Hyundai, Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. will buy at least 7.8 million metric tons of steel plates to make ship hulls this year, the world’s three largest yards said in interviews.
The Korean orders may support earnings at Asian steelmakers including China’s Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. and Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., as demand from carmakers and builders dropped. But Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. may double planned output cuts amid the recession, executives said today.
“Demand from shipyards is basically the only bright spot for steelmakers this year because supply still lags demand,” Kim Yong Soo, an analyst at SK Securities Co., said in Seoul. “For shipbuilders, it’s going to mean higher costs.”
Steel is the single biggest material cost for shipyards. Plate prices in China, the largest steel producing nation, dropped 26 percent last year as smaller shipyards struggled to fulfill contracts.
Samsung Heavy plans to increase steel purchases 20 percent to 1.8 million tons, spokesman I. Chan Hwang said. Daewoo Shipbuilding will buy 2 million tons this year, 33 percent more than last year, according to an e-mailed statement. Hyundai Heavy, will buy more than the 4 million tons ordered in 2008, said spokesman Kim Ki Young, without specifying the amount.
“Demand for the steel material by shipyards will remain strong until next year because of the backlogs,” said Song Sang Hoon, an analyst at Kyobo Securities Co. in Seoul.
The Korean yards are fulfilling orders won in 2006. Ulsan-based Hyundai, Seoul-based Samsung and Daewoo said they will buy from Asian companies, including Posco and Dongkuk Steel, which gets half its sales from plates.
Baoshan last month said it will raise capacity for plates by 29 percent. The Shanghai-based company supplies Hyundai Heavy and Samsung Heavy.
Falling demand may force Europe’s ArcelorMittal and ThyssenKrupp AG to write down as much as $6.09 billion, Tim Huff, a Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc analyst, wrote on 6 Jan. Nippon Steel, the world’s second-largest maker, may double output cuts by closing a furnace, executives said today.
Daewoo Shipbuilding said on Jan. 5 that it expects to post record sales of more than 13 trillion won ($9.7 billion) this year. Hyundai Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding have yet to announce their business plans.
The three yards, with $135 billion of contracts for vessels and deep-sea platforms, are maintaining orders even as rivals fail. C&Heavy Industries Co., a South Korea shipbuilder that has yet to deliver its first vessel, is seeking protection from creditors to avoid bankruptcy.
Orders for new vessels, which take as long as three years to build, slowed 42 percent in the first 11 months of 2008 as world trade slumped, hurting small and new yards.
About 30 percent of Chinese orders won in 2007 were cancelled, said Cho In Karp, an analyst at Good Morning Shinhan Securities Co. in Seoul. About half of the 30 shipbuilders in South Korea may close or move into another business, he said.
“Everyone seems to agree that it’ll be tough” through the first half of 2009, Kim Tae Hoon, vice president of Hanjin Shipping Co. said in Seoul. “We are hoping the market will start to pick up slowly from the second half.”
Source: Bloomberg
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