In the first quarter, there were 1,519 shipbuilders of the designated size and above in China, of which 313 enterprises suffered losses, 3 more than in the same period of last year. Losses of the 313 companies totaled RMB 1.11 billion during the period, up 28.8% year on year.
In the first three months, the 1519 shipbuilders realized RMB 142.2 billion in core business revenue, 30.1% more than in the corresponding period of 2010. Revenue from shipbuilding business rose 27.8% year on year to RMB 106.3 billion, and that from manufacturing of ship-related products surged 40% year on year to RMB 17.8 billion.
The 1519 shipbuilders earned a combined RMB 10.3 billion in gross profits in the first quarter, up 23.4% year on year, but saw sales margin fall 0.4 percentage points to 7.2% in the first three months.
In the first four months, China's new ship orders increased 6.6% to 13.62 million deadweight tons, of which 81.2% were for exports, and its output of completed ships climbed 1.2% year on year to 18.82 million DWT, of which 85.6% were for exports.
Outstanding orders had amounted to 183.76 million DWT at the end of April, 6.2% less than at the end of 2010.
During the period from January to April, the 1519 ship companies saw gross industrial output jump 25.4% year on year to RMB 234 billion, of which RMB 180.3 billion was from the shipbuilding business, up 24.3% year on year. The export delivery value of the 1519 ship firms increased 19.5% year on year to RMB 101 billion during the period.