CSG enters shipbuilding market

China Shipping Group (CSG), the second biggest oceanic transportation conglomerate in China, plans to build its first shipyard by the end of 2008. This makes it the second time in less than two months that a large centrally-administered state-owned enterprise has branched out into the shipbuilding industry.

Shanghai Baosteel Group Corp., China’s largest steel producer, entered the shipbuilding industry in March by jointly investing RMB 10 billion with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) to build the country’s largest shipbuilding base at the estuary of the Yangtze River.

CSG’s new shipyard – expected to cover an area of 187 hectares and stretch 3,500 m along the coastline ? will be located in the Yanjiang Development Zone of Jiangdu.

The parent China Shipping Group said it would lift the annual production capacity of its shipyard to 1.5 million DWT over a period of three years. On completion, the shipyard is expected to achieve annual sales revenue of RMB 10 billion and generate a yearly tax revenue for the government of more than RMB 1 billion.