News / Chinese auto JV follows industry trend and orders new car-carriers

10/07/2023

Chinese carmakers are continuing to invest in ships: the latest is the Chery Automobile/JAC Motors/Anhui Port & Shipping joint-venture, which has ordered its first car-carrier newbuilds.

Established in December, Anhui Haery International Ro-Ro Transportation has ordered three LNG dual-fuelled 7,000-car unit pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) from Wuhu Shipyard.

The price was not disclosed, but in tenders called in May, Anhui Haery said each vessel should not cost more than $89m, and must be delivered by March 2025.

Anhui Haery launched operations in February, using Jiuyang Fortune, a chartered PCTC, to bring 3,427 Chery/JAC cars from Shanghai to Mexico’s Mazatlan port.

In China, where auto manufacturing and exporting is growing fast, there is a shortage of domestic car-carrying vessels, and some carmakers have been moving vehicles in containers. And in the past two years, manufacturers have become more involved in shipping, either through JVs with shipping companies, or purchasing or ordering their own PCTCs.

During the pandemic, movement restrictions and low demand for new vehicles saw many older PCTCs being scrapped and just four ordered. Last year, however, 90 PCTCs of 560,000 car-equivalent units were ordered, following 38 commissioned in 2021.

The PCTC shortage saw charter rates top $110,000/day, fuelled by tonne-mile growth from more long-haul vehicle shipments to Europe and the Americas. Some carmakers and buyers baulked at the high costs and have turned to containers, with a million cars, nearly a third of China’s target exports, assigned to container lines this year.

Meanwhile, as EV production surges, China’s car exports grew 82% year on year in the first five months of the year, to 1.76m, with full-year exports set to exceed last year’s 3.1m units, making China the world’s third-largest vehicle exporter, after Japan and Europe.

Other carmakers that have invested in shipping include Guangzhou Ocean Car Carrier, a JV between Cosco Shipping Specialised Carriers, SAIC Anji Logistics and SIPG Logistics established a year ago, which has ordered eight PCTCs.

And in November, BYD Auto, which has surpassed Tesla as the largest electric vehicle producer, ordered two 7,000-ceu LNG dual-fuelled PCTCs, followed by orders for four 9,400-ceu vessels, all at domestic shipyards.