The unbroken high demand for new tonnage is reflected in Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s order book: the shipyard’s order volume currently stands at a record US$16bn.
In order to cover this volume, the company recently acquired an additional 200 hectares of land. Due to the high capacity utilisation of Japanese and Korean shipyards, over 60% of all orders so far this year have gone to China. The biggest beneficiary is Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, the largest shipbuilding company in the People’s Republic.
This year, the shipyard started building ships in the VLAC class (Very Large Ammonia Carriers). This week, it announced that it had signed a contract with the Japanese shipowner Nissen Kaiun for the construction of four such newbuildings. This is the first VLAC order for a privately owned shipyard in China. Until recently, South Korea dominated the VLAC segment. The order books also include LNG ships and large ethane tankers (VLEC).
Yangzijiang is expanding
The execution of these orders requires space. Yangzijiang recently announced that it had purchased a neighbouring site on the Jangste. The expansion cost around US$400m and includes a 300,000-ton dry dock on an area of 200 hectares. This is expected to increase the shipyard’s annual capacity by a further 800,000 dwt.
While Yangzijiang’s expansion appears unprecedented, it is representative of the growth of Chinese shipyards in general. Data from shipbroker BRS shows that the order books are full until 2027 and beyond.
