Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was the best performing stock on Singapore’s Straits Times Index (STI) last week.
Shares in China’s largest privately owned shipbuilder were up more than 10% for the week, according to figures from the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The STI is a market capitalisation weighted index that tracks the performance of the top 30 companies listed on the SGX.
Investors have taken a keen interest in Yangzijiang’s shares amid talk that it is set to break into the exclusive LNG newbuilding market.
On Thursday, TradeWinds reported that Danish shipowner Celsius Tankers was looking to order up to 12 LNG carriers at shipyards in China.
Discussions about the newbuildings are said to be taking place with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding and China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI), which are both trying to break into LNG carrier construction.
Multiple sources said Celsius has turned its attention to Chinese shipbuilders as newbuilding slots in South Korea have evaporated.
Last week, Yangzijiang announced it had obtained a licence agreement with GTT enabling it to build vessels using the French membrane containment system designer’s technologies.
“We believe Yangzijiang is well positioned to secure its maiden LNG carrier order with this GTT accreditation and their earlier delivery slots in 2025,” said DBS Bank analyst Ho Pei Hwa.
“This will not only be the next growth driver for Yangzijiang but also a critical development in its clean vessel transformation, riding on robust demand for LNG carriers and [the] trend towards cleaner LNG dual-fuel vessels.”
Including Yangzijiang, Ho said there are 29 GTT-licensed shipyards globally, for commercial vessels and offshore platforms.
In China, there are eight GTT-licensed yards, of which Hudong-Zhonghua is the most prominent LNG carrier builder with 30 units, or around 11% market share.
Jiangnan Shipyard and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co have five and two large LNG carriers on their orderbooks, respectively.
“Yangzijiang would be the first non-state-owned enterprise Chinese shipyard to be added to the GTT-licensed yard list,” said Ho.
In early September, CMHI was awarded approval in principle for 174,000-cbm and 180,000-cbm LNG carrier designs, jointly developed with Deltamarin, according to Clarksons.
