Train makers CNR and CSR seal 6.8b yuan in new orders
Contracts positive sign after turbulence in the industry but CNR and CSR still find it tough selling high-speed rail technology overseas
State-owned train makers China CNR Corp and CSR Corp have won new orders worth a total of 6.8 billion yuan (HK$8.6 billion), including overseas deals valued at 1.8 billion yuan, but analysts say efforts to sell mainland high-speed rail technology abroad still face difficulties.
CNR had entered into 12 contracts with different companies and organisations worth about 6.5 billion yuan, including four overseas orders, the company said in an announcement filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday night.
The overseas contracts were worth 1.5 billion yuan and were with BHP Billiton and the governments of Argentina, Brazil and Mozambique.
The value of the contracts, for train carriages such as multiple units, passenger coaches, freight wagons and wind turbines, is equivalent to 6.67 per cent of its revenue last year.
Meanwhile, CSR said a subsidiary had won a metro car and maintenance order from Mumbai, India, valued at 300 million yuan. It is the first time the company has secured a metro maintenance order from India, while it is its third metro car order from the country.
The train makers have been expanding their overseas business, and Premier Li Keqiang has been promoting the mainland's high-speed rail technology abroad. But the new overseas orders do not feature high-speed, or CRH, trains, capable of operating speeds of 200km/h or more.