South Korea's Shipyards May Raise Prices
Bloomberg has reported that South Korea's seven shipbuilders, which delivered 38 percent of the world's vessels in 2005, said they may raise the prices of new ships to take advantage of record orders and protect their profits from rising costs. Carriers of containers, oil and minerals may cost about 5 percent more this year, said Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries company officials. Higher prices protect shipbuilders' earnings from the Korean won's gains against the U.S. dollar and shield them from steel costs that have risen 70 percent since 2003. A third year of rising ship prices add to the costs of Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp. and other shipping lines which carry an estimated 90 percent of global trade.
Samsung Gets Orders for 14 Ships
According to reports, Samsung Heavy Industries Co., has received orders for 14 container ships worth $1.5 billion from three companies including Panama's Naviera Daniela SA and Greece's Danaos Shipping Co. Samsung Heavy will deliver the ships by November 2009, the said in a regulatory filing to the Korea stock exchange today. The orders today raise Samsung Heavy's total for the year to date to $6.9 billion, 90 percent of its 2006 target. The country's shipyards delivered 2.84 million compensated gross tons in the three months to March 31, 21 percent more than a year earlier. The companies are expected to deliver about 2 million compensated gross tons every quarter this year. Source: Bloomberg
