China's 2023 shipbuilding plate output tops 14 mln t

Production of shipbuilding steel plates among Chinese steelmakers showed a significant rise in 2023, climbing by some 2.2 million tonnes or 18.6% on year to reach 14.2 million tonnes, as the country's shipbuilding sector retained sound development and new vessel orders secured by shipbuilders steadily grew, according to the latest release by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) on Wednesday.

Within the total output, Chinese steel mills saw their high-strength shipbuilding plate production jump by 24.2% or 1.7 million tonnes on year to 8.7 million tonnes last year, CANSI noted.

In 2023, the number of steelmakers in China producing shipbuilding plates reached 21, with the top 10 churning out 12.9 million tonnes, up 15.3% on year or accounting for 91.1% of the country's total output, according to CANSI.

Due to the decline in international commodity prices and insufficient domestic steel demand, China's domestic prices of various finished steel products continued to fall, CANSI said. " However, the robust demand for ship plate slowed the downtrend in prices of this product in China," it added.

For example, China's national price of 20mm shipbuilding plate was assessed by Mysteel at Yuan 4,515/tonne ($628/t) and including the 13% VAT as of December 29 last year, edging down by Yuan 100/t on year.

Meanwhile, the surge in China's new vessel orders last year led to rising demand for shipbuilding plate, according to the association. In 2023, new orders received by the country's shipyards soared by 56.4% on year to 71.2 million deadweight tons, taking up 66% of the world's total orders, as reported.

The CANSI statistics showed that China's total consumption of shipbuilding steel exceeded 14 million tonnes in 2023, higher by 16.7% on year and maintaining a rapid growth for two years. Of these, demand for plates and sections reached 12 million tonnes and 1.15 million tonnes respectively, up 17.6% and 15% on year.

The association predicted that China's annual steel consumption in the shipbuilding sector may hover at 14 million tonnes within five years. Moreover, if the prices of steelmaking raw materials such as iron ore, coke, and steel scrap do not experience wild fluctuations, shipbuilding plate prices will undergo slight volatility within a relatively stable range during 2024, it estimated.

Written by Rong Zhang, zhangronga@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com