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National Association of Italian Shipbuilders, Ship Repairers and
Ship Suppliers (Assonave) – met under the chairmanship of Corrado Antonini in
Rome yesterday.
The report presented to the meeting showed that the situation
is still critical: at 32 million compensated gross tonnes (cgt), world orders
dropped by 18% over 2010 and in the first quarter of 2012 orders totalled less
than 5 million cgt, down 24% on the same period in 2011. Were this trend to
continue, 2012 would become one of the years when demand hit a record low.
The financial crisis, which has led to a considerable slowdown
in seaborne trades, came on top of a very high volume of newbuilding deliveries
between 2009 and 2011, which in turn led to a general drop in freight rates,
impacting on the profitability of shipowners and hence on ships new orders. The
slowdown in orders has not only been recorded in the standard ships sector but
also in the market for high tech ships, including cruise vessels, with the sole
exception of the offshore sector and gas tankers, where the Korean and Norwegian
shipbuilders excel.
Italian shipbuilding – mainly positioned in specialized niche markets – reflects
the general trend of the industry: the orders gained last year amount to
approximately 330,000 cgt, much less than the pre-crisis yearly average of 1
million cgt. As a consequence, the order book fell from 2.8 million cgt to
885,000 cgt at the close of 2011.
Considering that in the medium term world demand is not expected to exceed 40
million cgt and that these volumes will be matched by a production capacity
which has reached 60 million cgt, the extent of the serious overcapacity which
the sector will have to bear in the years to come is clear.
Within this context, in 2011 the cruise sector counted 19.5 million passengers
worldwide, compared to 18.8 million in 2010, an increase of 3.7%. The outlook
for the future is good. However, the fact that 10 ships were ordered in 2011,
against 7 the previous year, should not lead to over-optimistic reactions:
indeed in terms of lower berths the ships ordered amount to approximately 23,000
LBs compared to over 24,100 LBs in 2010.
Furthermore, if we compare the orders for the four pre-crisis years, 2004-2007,
to 2008-2011, we can see a dramatic trend with the numbers of ships halved: 51
against 21.
Further cause for concern is the double order from Aida Cruises gained by
Mitsubishi H.I. following financing by Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
In the naval sector, alongside positive results in the international field,
concern is raised by the continuity of demand from the Italian Navy whose
budget, which has been reduced considerably over the years, has been further cut
by the recent measures aimed at containing public spending.
The European Commission has sought to tackle this critical downturn in a number
of ways and through CESA - the European Association of Shipbuilders and
Shiprepairers – it has been possible to obtain more favourable credit policies
from the EIB and the renewal, for 2012-2013, of the Shipbuilding Framework which
regulates the innovation aid to European shipbuilders. At the same time a new
initiative, LeaderSHIP 2020, has been started with the aim to draw up a new
industrial policy focusing on the development of sustainable maritime transport
and on the exploitation of renewable marine energies, using the three levers of
finance, research and innovation and social policies.
Speaking after the meeting the Chairman, Corrado Antonini, said: “We are faced
with a further period of difficulty but we can and will use the wide range of
levers at our disposal on an industrial, strategic and research level. It is up
to the workforce to redouble their efforts to improve productivity and up to the
state to ensure we are supported in terms of regulations and funding, especially
for export and technological innovation. We must work together if we want to
stay alive and to be ready to reap the rewards of a recovery in the sector,
which we all hope will come sooner than we might now think. |
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