Yangzijiang Shipbuilding says the impact of power shortages on its operations have been "kept under control".
Many parts of China have suffered the country's worst power crunch due to a combination of surging energy demand amid the post-pandemic recovery and a reduction in coal supply under the government’s emission reduction efforts.
"A power crunch amidst shortage of coal supplies in China has led to electricity rationing and production halt at numerous factories in the months of September and October," Yangzijiang said.
"However, since the beginning of November, restrictions and constraints on electricity usage have eased and the shipyards are now back to normal operations."
Yangzijiang said its major shipyards are now operating at "full utilisation rates" and there are no changes to the group's scheduled delivery of vessels in the second half of 2021.
Since late September, many parts of China have suffered severe electricity shortages, with local governments imposing power cuts and rationing on industrial users and even residents.
Yangzijiang, China's largest privately owned shipbuilder, posted a 30% decline in third-quarter gross profit.
Rising raw material costs
It reported a gross profit of CNY 486.1m ($75.9m) against the CNY 694.8m in the corresponding period of last year.
The company attributed the decline to a combination of factors, including rising raw material costs, the delivery of several large containerships in the prior period as well as a reversal of a provision of CNY 94m for onerous contracts.
Core shipbuilding revenue increased by 45% year on year to CNY 3.6bn, mainly due to higher levels of shipbuilding activities during the quarter compared with a year ago.
The company also sold an 82,000-dwt bulk carrier held under its shipping arm, resulting in a gain of about CNY 40m.
Yangzijiang said it was the "top-ranking shipyard" in terms of containership newbuilding contracts secured in the first nine months of 2021, securing about 16% of total orders booked by teu capacity.
The number of new orders for containerships placed in the first nine months reached 473 vessels of 3.9m teu, the highest level since 1996 and surpassing the previous record set in 2007, according to Clarksons.
In the year to date, Yangzijiang said it had secured orders for 124 vessels worth $7.4bn, taking its order backlog to 165 ships worth $8.86bn.
