The Fuzhou customs office reported Fujian province’s exports of ships in the first five months this year totaled $420 million, a drop of 20.9 percent year-on-year.

The major export is marine engineering ships, sales of which accounted for 62.5 percent of the total during the January-May period. Of note is a jump of 72.1 percent in yacht sales from the same period last year. By contrast, bulk carrier export has continued to decrease due to stagnant international shipping business.

Fujian sold its ships mainly to ASEAN countries, Norway and Hong Kong. Exports to ASEAN countries were $270 million, a year-on-year increase of 4.2 percent. Exports to Hong Kong totaled $50 million, a decrease of 43.2 percent from last year. Exports to Norway increased to $50 million.

More orders are coming and the market is recovering slowly, but insiders believed this can be mostly attributed to cost-control measures by shipping companies, rather than a real boost in requirements. They alerted Fujian shipyards to watch the industry situation and readjust themselves in a timely manner.

Edited by Michael Thai