Chinese shipbuilding has price advantage

China’s shipbuilders have a price advantage at present compared with rivals in Korea and Japan, since heavy steel plates in China are 18% cheaper than those in Japan and 19% cheaper than Korea. The purchasing of ship plate takes up some 20% of shipbuilding cost, thus helping China’s shipbuilders lower production cost.

Presently, the price for Japan made plate stands at $700 per tonne and that for Korea made plate at $724 per tonne while that for China -made plate averages $583 per tonne. In terms of steel plate production, Japan implements active restraint while, in contrast, China and Korea both increased their ship plate production. Shipbuilders are planning to cut newbuilding prices as a last resort to keep existing orders, experts said and, in this respect, China is in the strongest position particularly if one adds China’s lower labour costs plus the ability to build ships of similar quality to those from Korea and Japan.