Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s drive into the tanker newbuilding sector looks to be paying off, with the company adding $400m worth of contracts in the third quarter of 2023.
The Singapore-listed shipbuilder now has a tanker order backlog worth $1.74bn, according to its third-quarter business update.
The tanker orderbook comprises 37 vessels of almost 1m cgt made up of 24 MR tankers, eight 75,000-dwt LR1s and five 114,000-dwt LR2s.
Yangzijiang, China’s largest privately owned shipyard, is best known as a container ship and bulk carrier builder. However, it has diversified its product portfolio over the last two years.
Earlier today, TradeWinds reported that Greek shipowner George Procopiou had ordered two LR1 product tanker newbuildings at Yangzijiang for $53m each.
Yangzijiang’s order backlog is still dominated by container ships, with 83 vessels worth $9.8bn on order ranging in size from 1,800 teu up to 24,000 teu.
Some 50 bulkers worth just under $2bn are on order at the shipbuilder, while it also has some 14 gas ships booked in worth a total of $1.26bn.
The company told investors it had exceeded its order target for the third quarter, securing new business worth over $770m. Additionally, it more than doubled its full-year target of $3bn, reaching $6.54bn in the first nine months of 2023.
Yangzijiang said it now had an “all-time high” order backlog worth $14.8bn, which offered “strong earnings visibility” up until the middle of 2027.
Singapore’s UOB Kay Hian recently removed the shipbuilder from its Alpha Picks portfolio on the belief that the next three to four years would be a “relatively quieter period for order win announcements”.
The investment bank’s Alpha Picks are its high-conviction calls, usually around 10 to 12 companies, selected by its Singapore-based research team.
