CHINESE shipbuilders received orders for vessels totalling 2.4 million deadweight tonnes (dwt), worth US$1.5 billion during the first 11 months of the year, according to the China Daily.
The volume was up from 1.65 million dwt for the whole of last year and equal to the orders received between 1986 and 1990.
Of the 11-month total, 99 per cent of the orders came from foreign shipowners, mainly from Hong Kong, Norway, Germany and Greece.
The major yards of China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) are located in Shanghai, Dalian, Tianjin and Guangzhou.
CSSC now has orders for more than four million dwt of vessels in hand, which will keep its major yards busy for the next two years.
Of the orders received this year, large vessels and those for carrying liquefied oil, gas and chemicals constitute a much higher proportion of the total than before.