Rise in Ship Orders as China Boosts Automobile Exports

According to China’s General Administration of Customs, China’s auto exports surged to 5.22 million units in 2023, up 57.5% year-on-year. As China’s auto industry enters a new export era, automakers are wrestling with challenges such as soaring rental rates, shipping capacity constraints, and fierce competition for available car carriers.

According to Clarkson Research, a global maritime research institute, from August 2020 to the end of November 2023, the one-year time charter rate for a 6,500 CEU (Car Equivalent Unit) pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) had increased more than tenfold from $10,000 per day to $115,000 per day.

To strengthen auto exports, BYD, Chery Automobile, SAIC, and others have boldly embarked on building their own vessels. Specifically, Guangzhou Shipyard International Company successfully fulfilled an order for two BYD PCTCs on January 23, 2023, and Chery Group subsequently announced plans to build its own global shipping fleet. Anji Logistics of SAIC, in the past two years, has also ordered many large car carriers capable of carrying over 7,000 vehicles each.

According to data cited by China Daily from a local research institute, as of November 2021, the top ten auto transport companies, which are centered in Japan, Korea, and European countries, accounted for 59.42% of global capacity. The auto transport capacity of Japan and Korea is mostly occupied by their domestic car manufacturers.

According to Clarkson Research, there are currently 39 car carriers with a total of 115,000CEU in China, accounting for only 2.8% of global transport capacity. As China’s shipbuilding industry thrives and auto exports surge, Chinese automakers are increasingly using domestic vessels for transportation. Currently, Chinese shipyards are handling most of the new orders for car carriers worldwide.

For example, Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Limited is fully booked until 2028. When the new ship orders are delivered, China’s shipping fleets will significantly increase its share of the global car carrier capacity and are expected to rise to fourth place, following behind Japan, Korea, and Norway.

Industry experts in China have emphasized that achieving high cost-effectiveness is the key to the global competitiveness of Chinese cars, according to China Daily. China’s overseas market expansion, which topped the list of auto export countries in 2023, is expected to continue quickly this year.