China ship completions soar

China continued to set new highs in newbuildings as completions rose by 20% to 14.52M dwt in 2006. Large tankers accounted for nearly half of the ship output according to Zhang Guangqin, chairman of China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry. China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) accounted for 6M dwt and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) 2.6M dwt. Newbuilding orders released by The Commission of Science, Technology and Industry amounted to 42M dwt in 2006 raising the total order book to 68M dwt or 24% of the global total, according to official news agency Xinhua. China, which now ranks third behind South Korea and Japan in shipbuilding, is on track to become the world’s No. 1 by 2015, CSSC GM Chen Xiaojin has declared. CSSC is said to be the third largest shipbuilding conglomerate in the world behind Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea and Imabari Shipbuilding of Japan. The group is scheduled to deliver China’s first LNG newbuild late this year.