The price of ships can't rise above the price of steel. This problem not only plagues Chinese ship companies, but also makes life difficult for Koreans

From May 7 to 14, the prices of the main shipboard trading markets in China rose slightly. Specifically, on May 14, the average price of 10 mm ship plate was 4950 yuan / ton, which was 8 yuan / ton higher than before; the average price of 20 mm ship plate was 4846 yuan / ton, 6 yuan / ton higher than before.

Recently, due to the weak high-level transaction and the rainy weather in many places, the steel terminal demand has dropped, and the domestic spot steel price has dropped slightly. On May 11, the composite index of domestic spot steel prices closed at 152.08 points, down 0.80% from the previous week. At present, the supply and demand situation of domestic steel market is relatively healthy, the digestion of trading volume and inventory still has good performance on the whole, and the steel mills have strong willingness to support the price. Therefore, the domestic steel price will rise in a short period of time.

As far as the price of ship board is concerned, the price increase of new ship is far behind. According to the data of China Shipbuilding Industry Economic and Market Research Center, in 2017, the new ship price of 62000 DWT bulk carriers increased by 7.9%, which is a relatively good ship type in the market. However, in the same period, the price of 6 mm ship plate increased by 21.2%, and that of 20 mm plate increased by 20.6%. Although the nominal price of new vessels hit the bottom, the real price of new ships is still bottoming due to the changes of ship plate price and exchange rate.

Since the beginning of this year, China's new orders for ships have rebounded significantly, and the growth of ship plate demand has further supported the price rise of ship plates. The shipbuilding production has the characteristics of organizing and implementing according to the order. From January to March 2018, it shows the trend of monthly expansion. According to the statistics of China Iron and Steel Industry Association, the output of ship plate in January was 630000 tons, an increase of 60000 tons, or 10.6%; in February, the output was 630000 tons, an increase of 100000 tons, an increase of 18.3%; in March, the output was 650000 tons, an increase of 110000 tons, an increase of 20.5%.

In addition to the market price, the technological innovation of marine steel is closely related to the shipbuilding industry. Recently, the recommended projects of Metallurgical Science and technology award of China Iron and Steel Industry Association and China metal society in 2018 have been announced. The key preparation technology development and application of high-quality duplex stainless steel plate series, the development and industrial application of low-temperature ductile structural steel plate for Arctic and offshore cold regions are listed on the list. It is suggested that some conventional products of marine steel should focus on solving the problem of stable and balanced quality, and a number of key technologies and key varieties should strive to make breakthroughs through strengthening scientific and technological innovation of advantageous enterprises.

South Korea's three major shipping companies worry about deteriorating order competitiveness

Hyundai Heavy Industry, Samsung Heavy Industry and Daewoo shipbuilding ocean, the three largest shipbuilding enterprises in South Korea, were full of expectations for receiving high price ship orders in the near future, but they could not be optimistic about the future due to worries about rising steel prices, the Asia economy reported.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, which recorded a deficit of 132.1 billion won (about 123 million US dollars) in the first quarter of this year, released its first quarter results at a meeting held on May 3. The shipping business department of the company took orders for new ships in the same period as last year. However, a person in charge of Hyundai Heavy Industry said that the total amount of new ship orders obtained by the three shipyards of the company in the first quarter of this year was US $2.7 billion, which only reached the completion rate of 20.4% compared with the annual total target of US $13.2 billion. The main reason for this result is not the shortage of orders, but the long time for shipyards to negotiate with shipowners in order to obtain higher ship prices.

The head of modern heavy industry ship business department said that the company is currently negotiating new ship cooperation with many shipowners and expects the ship price to rise substantially compared with last year. For example, the modern merchant ship has ordered 20 super large container ships in the modern heavy industry, and the modern merchant ship is optimistic about the stable price of these ships in the future. Another modern heavy industry insider said the company could focus on improving efficiency by ensuring stable orders and rising ship prices.

Since the beginning of this year, Daewoo shipbuilding ocean has made quite good performance in receiving orders, and the amount of orders received has reached more than 30% of the annual order receiving target. In particular, this year, the company's orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships accounted for about 50% of the total orders received by Korean shipping enterprises, showing a strong market competitiveness. At present, the company has not yet released the first quarter operating results, is expected to achieve profitability.

South Korean industry insiders predict that from 2020, the shipbuilding industry will usher in a new stage of prosperity, driven by the formal implementation of various new environmental protection regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the increase of new ship orders.

"However, rising steel prices will be the biggest stumbling block to the recovery of the shipbuilding industry." The above-mentioned South Korean industry personage said that the increasing reserves of shipbuilding enterprises are just to cope with the serious deterioration of order competitiveness that may occur in the future. "Shipbuilding enterprises are looking forward to improving the current sluggish business performance, but if the steel price continues to rise in the second half of the year, the order competitiveness of shipbuilding enterprises will deteriorate, so they cannot remain optimistic about the future."