South China Morning Post article yesterday was written by Toh Han Shih (former journalist with Singapore's Business Times)
CHINA’S SHIPBUILDING industry may be about to show some tentative signs of recovery, the South China Morning Post reported yesterday (June 23).
That spells potentially good news for Singapore-listed shipbuilders such as COSCO and Yangzijiang.
“We may see some orders for large ships for Chinese shipyards before the end of the year,” said Russell Barling, Asia corporate communications manager at Lloyd’s Register, the world’s No.2 ship classification society by order book.
Stimulus measures for the industry announced by Beijing in the past few months and optimism that the global recession might be bottoming out were key reasons for the more optimistic outlook, Mr Barling was quoted as saying.
“There are now inquiries going to Chinese shipyards for larger ships. There haven’t been many inquiries for larger ships for a long time, but now we’re seeing them within the past month,” Mr Barling said.
The measures include facilitating bank credit for shipbuilding.
Charles de Trenck, an analyst with consultancy Transport Trackers, was quoted as saying that China might see a recovery in shipbuilding orders later this year if oil-producing countries such as Iran placed orders for tankers.
Related story today: YANGZIJIANG: Valued at a premium by CLSA, target price 75cts
