Taiwan ranks number four

Taiwan’s China Shipbuilding Corp (CSC) ranked the fourth in the world in terms of accumulated container ship orders last year. The ranking was designated by the London-based Clarkson PLC which placed CSC behind the three South Korean shipyards of Hyundai, Samsung and Hanjin.

By the end of 2006, CSC had received orders for 50 container ships with a total 205,250 TEUs which will keep CSC busy until July 2010. In terms of orders for all ships, CSC ranks 18th in the world.

The state-run CSC attributes its success to its restructuring after the shipyard was losing money for several years until it reorganized and laid off 2,280 workers in 2002.

The company, now 92% state-owned, has 2,710 workers at its two shipyard – one in Kaohsiung in south Taiwan and one in Keelung in north Taiwan.

To complete its privatization, CSC is looking for a buyer to acquire the majority stake in the company. Two previous bidding processes failed because there were only two bidders in each round and the Taiwan government requires at least three tenders for each bidding process.