Global ship prices fell to the bottom

Continuation of the good trend of new orders taking place in January-April continued to climb. According to relevant data, China's new orders in May continued to climb sharply, ranking first in the world with heavy load tons. Analysts pointed out that global shipping prices have fallen to the bottom, and now is a good time to book a boat.

New orders climbed

Data show that from January to May, the total number of new global ship orders 40.67 million dwt, an increase of 70%. Among them, China's shipyards underwent a total of 4.04 million dwt in May, which was a month-on-month increase of 73%, surpassing South Korea and Japan to rank first in the world. The Chinese shipyard has accepted a total of 1.09 billion new ship orders. The South Korean shipyard took a total of 2.39 million dwt and 1.269 billion U.S. dollars for new ship orders, and the Japanese shipyard took orders for 730,000 dwt and 452 million U.S. dollars for new ships.

Zeng Xiaoguang, an analyst at China Shipbuilding Industry Economics Research Center, pointed out that although it is slightly lower than South Korea in terms of value, the gap is not great. It is worth noting that five 18,400 TEU container ships ordered by China Shipping in May were acquired by Hyundai Heavy Industries, indicating that China still has shortcomings in shipbuilding. At the same time, the Japan Shipbuilding Association announced that its six member shipyards have developed new types of ships that meet EEDI requirements. From the published data, some ship types have already approached the requirements of EEDI Phase 3, and the market conditions facing Chinese shipyards are not optimistic.

According to the data, in May, container ships performed very well. No matter whether they were based on deadweight tonnage or in standard containers, they all reached a new high since July 2011. Since 2013, the total volume of container ship orders has reached 597,000 TEU, which is 1.4 times the total annual orders in 2012.

Insiders pointed out that the increase in container vessel turnover was mainly due to the low price of the vessel, the excellent energy-saving and environmental protection performance of the new vessel, and the fact that it was easier to sign long-term charter contracts than other vessels. Taking the new ship's price as an example, in 2013, the minimum value of the ship's price for the 8600-9100TEU container ship was 76.5 million U.S. dollars, which was a drop of 60.5 million U.S. dollars or 44% compared with the highest value of 137 million U.S. dollars in 2008. A lot of temptation. It is reported that in May, Jinhai Heavy Industry received orders for 10 8800TEU container ships from SinOceanic. On the other hand, SinOceanic Company stated that “in the medium and long term, the new shipbuilding price of container ships may continue to rise, and it is now easier to sign long-term chartered contracts. The investment in container ships is comparable to that of bulk carriers and oil tankers. Investment has more advantages." Analysts speculate that investment in large container vessels and feeder-line container vessels is expected to be active for some time to come.

Make a good time at the bottom of booking

With regard to ship prices, more and more shipowners have realized that the price of the ship may have fallen to the bottom and the possibility of further decline is negligible. At present, it is a good time to book a boat.

According to statistics from the Fulisi Shipyard Weekly, the price of the Capesize bulk carrier was 4,800 U.S. dollars in the last week of May, which has increased by 3 million U.S. dollars from the lowest price since 2013. At the same time, the price of Panamax bulk carriers and Aframax oil tankers also rose in different degrees from the previous week. The slight increase in ship prices, combined with the current technological advantages of ship types in energy saving and emission reduction, may prompt some ship owners who are watching and waiting to make a decision to order new vessels.

Analysts pointed out that the global shipping market may pick up in the next year and the completion cycle of new shipbuilding orders will also be around two years. There will be major changes in the shipbuilding industry, and the number of companies will increase gradually.

However, under the influence of various unfavorable factors such as the release of production capacity at various shipyards and relatively low order levels, ship prices will remain at the bottom of consolidation for some time in the future, and there is little likelihood of significant increases. Based on current ship prices, the gross profit margin of shipyards remains low.