Danmarks Skibskredit (Danish Ship Finance, DSF) estimates that by the end of 2014, global yard capacity could be back at the 2008 level, and says Chinese private small and midsize shipyards are most vulnerable in that process.
Copenhagen-based ship financier DSF estimates a large proportion of the global shipbuilding industry is running out of orders and estimates that up to nine per cent of world capacity will close in 2013 and possibly another eleven per cent in 2014 if contracting activity remains weak.
"Small and medium-sized, privately owned Chinese yards appear to be at the epicentre of the capacity adjustment process," said DSF in its latest Shipping Market Review.
DSF says 138 out of 622 active yards — 35% of shipbuilding capacity — failed to win a single order during the first eight months of 2012.
"We expect 4% of Chinese yard capacity to go out of business in 2012," said the report. DSF estimates that five per cent of Korean yard capacity will also become inactive this year.
Source: Asiasis
