Insufficient capacity into the risk of "gray rhinoceros" for automobile exports? Logistics prices increased tenfold saicus two large new ships

Economic Observation Network reporter Pu Zhenyu "The blockage of shipping terminals caused by the epidemic has had a great impact on us. Now our ship is overseas, especially in South America. Because of the local epidemic, it could have been unloaded in one day, but now it takes 3-4 days, and the container ship is caused by 17% waste due to waiting, and the Ro-Ro ship has a similar degree of waste compared with this. Wang Zemin, general manager of Anji Logistics, said in an interview with the Economic Observer Network reporter and other media.

On January 17, SAIC motor group and China Shipbuilding Group formally signed an agreement, CSSC Jiangnan Shipbuilding will customize two LNG (liquefied natural gas) dual-fuel, 7600-parking ocean-going vehicle carriers (ro-ro ships) for SAIC's Anji Logistics.

SAIC motor said that after the two ro-ro ships are put into use, they will meet the growing export business needs of SAIC and other independent and foreign brands in China.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China exported 2.015 million vehicles in 2021, an increase of 101.1% year-on-year. Among them, the export of new energy vehicles has achieved explosive growth, with exports reaching 310,000 units in 2021, an increase of 3 times year-on-year, and european markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Norway have become the main incremental markets.

But on the one hand, there is the exuberance of automobile exports, and on the other hand, there is the tension of cross-ocean transportation capacity. Logistics platform Freightos data shows that under the impact of the epidemic, the freight rate for shipping a 40-foot container from China to the west coast of the United States reached $20,000 at one point in August 2021, about 16 times that of before the epidemic. Even in January this year, this freight rate is still more than 10 times that of before the epidemic.

It is understood that China's automobile exports have always been dominated by shipping, most of the small cars are transported by container ships, large cars are transported by frame cabinets in small batches, and large quantities are transported by ro-ro ships. The soaring freight rates brought about by the tension of cross-ocean transportation capacity have brought cost pressure to many car companies.

On November 28, 2021, Tesla CEO Musk urged employees in a company-wide email to find ways to reduce the cost of delivering electric vehicles to customers, and not to rush orders at the last minute to meet the end-of-quarter sales target without regard to costs.

As the domestic automobile group with the largest vehicle export scale, SAIC Motor has also directly felt the challenge of tight cross-ocean transportation capacity. According to official data, SAIC Motor's overseas sales in 2021 will be 697,000 units (including 598,000 units exported and 99,000 units produced and sold at overseas bases), forming six "50,000-car" regional markets in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Americas, the Middle East, ASEAN and South Asia.

For the logistics guarantee of SAIC vehicle exports, Xin Jianmin, deputy general manager of Anji Logistics, told the media, including the Economic Observer Network reporter, that the overall transportation capacity is in short supply at this stage, and Anji Logistics will give priority to the support of SAIC While providing services for other vehicle manufacturers, Anji Logistics has established cooperative relations with the Great Wall, Changan, Geely and Dongfeng.

In the case of reduced shipping efficiency caused by the epidemic, in order to meet market demand, the purchase of more new ships has become an important choice for cross-ocean logistics companies such as Anji Logistics. This trend is reflected in the data level, showing that the global shipbuilding order volume will increase significantly in 2021, and many indicators of the domestic shipbuilding industry will also be greatly improved.

According to clarkson data from ship service company, from January to November 2021, global shipyards accumulated 44.21 million revised gross tons of newly signed shipbuilding orders, up 104% year-on-year, the highest level of signing since 2014. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of December 2021, the handheld order volume of the mainland shipbuilding industry was 95.839 million deadweight tons, an increase of 34.8% over the handheld order volume at the end of 2020, of which the sea vessel was 36.099 million revised gross tons, and the export ship accounted for 88.2% of the total.

According to the data, Anji Logistics is a global auto parts and vehicle logistics supplier, operating a total of 6 international routes, involving Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Mexico, South America and other places, with an annual vehicle shipment volume of up to 10 million vehicles.

Why did Anji Logistics choose dual-fuel power for the two ro-ro vessels customized this time? Wang Zemin said that LNG dual-fuel transport ships can meet the emission requirements of transport ships in various regions and can cover all routes around the world. Among them, Europe will have strict carbon tax requirements from 2023, and this ship can meet the relevant requirements.