BEIJING/SHANGHAI — Chinese automakers and shippers are ordering a record variety of car-carrying vessels to support a boom in EV exports, data showed, putting China heading in the right direction to amass the world’s fourth-largest fleet by 2028.
China currently has the world’s eighth-largest fleet with 33 car-carrying ships, showed data from shipping consultancy Veson Nautical. Japan has the world’s largest with 283 ships, followed by Norway’s 102, South Korea’s 72 and Isle of Man’s 61.
But Chinese firms have 47 ships on order, accounting for 1 / 4 of all orders globally. Buyers include SAIC Motor, Chery Automobile and EV giant BYD, in addition to shippers reminiscent of COSCO and China Merchants on behalf of Chinese automakers.
“After this armada has been delivered to China, the Chinese controlled automobile carrier fleet will jump from current 2.4% to eight.7%,” Veson analyst Andrea de Luca said. “We expect to see recent trade routes established almost exclusively for Chinese OEMs (automakers).”
The jump in orders has mostly benefited Chinese shipyards, which received 82% of orders globally, the information showed.
With price-squeezing competition, cost-conscious consumers and a sluggish economy, automakers have ramped up expansion into markets where their vehicles command higher prices than at home. Last yr, China overtook Japan as the most important auto exporter.
BYD alone exported over 240,000 cars in 2023, about 8% of its global sales, and plans to export as much as 400,000 this yr.
Foreign peers reminiscent of Tesla and Volkswagen have also expanded production in China for export to benefit from the country’s cost-effective supply chain.
Rising shipping costs and native government support have persuaded automakers to purchase ships themselves. By the top of 2023, the every day rate to charter a 6,500-vehicle carrier reached $115,000, greater than seven times the 2019 average, showed data from shipping consultancy Clarkson.
However the export rise has prompted the U.S. and EU to accuse China of attempting to take care of excess industrial capability by flooding their markets with low-priced products.
The federal government said the concentrate on capability is misguided and that it understates innovation and overstates the role of state support in driving growth.
The chance of excess capability can also be high in shipbuilding, said senior economist Xu Tianchen on the Economist Intelligence Unit, with China the same old goal of finger-pointing.
Nevertheless, “there remain some niches where the market probably hasn’t saturated, reminiscent of automobile cargo ships,” Xu said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised overcapacity concerns during a four-day trip to China. Meanwhile, China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao is visiting Europe, where he’s more likely to discuss a European Commission probe into whether Chinese-made EVs unfairly profit from subsidies.
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
