China will need up to 147 very large crude carriers (VLCC)s by 2015 to meet the country's rising demand for crude imports, a leading Chinese shipping executive has projected.
“China's crude oil imports are set to increase between 17 million and 18 million tonnes per year in the coming years, from 163 million tonnes imported in 2007, meaning that by 2010-2015, China will require between 104 and 147 VLCCs to meet demand,” said Zhu Ning, vice-president of the state-owned China Changjiang Shipping (Group) Corp.
Zhu was speaking at last week's Shipping China Energy 2008 forum in Shanghai.
Currently, the top five Chinese shipping companies possess only a combined fleet of 27 VLCCs, Zhu said, which will be sufficient to move just 20% of the country's projected import demand for 2010-2015.
“Moreover, although the number of VLCCs is expected to climb to 63 by 2011, this number will still only be able to transport approximately 58% of the country's crude oil import demand,” said Zhu.
Despite the apparent shortfall of tonnage for China's energy needs over the next few years, Zhu believes that Chinese shipping companies should still be able to boost their capacity, on the back of surging demand for tankers.
Zhu highlighted the current credit crisis and the conversion of single-hull tankers to double-hulls as two key factors that will determine the volume of new VLCC tonnage coming on-stream.
“China's crude oil imports are set to increase between 17 million and 18 million tonnes per year in the coming years, from 163 million tonnes imported in 2007, meaning that by 2010-2015, China will require between 104 and 147 VLCCs to meet demand,” said Zhu Ning, vice-president of the state-owned China Changjiang Shipping (Group) Corp.
Zhu was speaking at last week's Shipping China Energy 2008 forum in Shanghai.
Currently, the top five Chinese shipping companies possess only a combined fleet of 27 VLCCs, Zhu said, which will be sufficient to move just 20% of the country's projected import demand for 2010-2015.
“Moreover, although the number of VLCCs is expected to climb to 63 by 2011, this number will still only be able to transport approximately 58% of the country's crude oil import demand,” said Zhu.
Despite the apparent shortfall of tonnage for China's energy needs over the next few years, Zhu believes that Chinese shipping companies should still be able to boost their capacity, on the back of surging demand for tankers.
Zhu highlighted the current credit crisis and the conversion of single-hull tankers to double-hulls as two key factors that will determine the volume of new VLCC tonnage coming on-stream.