rongsheng cease shipbuilding manufacturer

The shipyard, located in the Yangtze River Delta, was founded in 2006, and became the largest private shipbuilder in China, churning out giant valemaxes at its four large dry-docks, before a massive financial collapse forced it to cease operations in 2014.

Broking sources in China tell Splash that the yard’s former chief operating officer David Luan is now preparing to officially reopen the yard, to be known as SPS Shipyard, a reference to ShipParts.com, a business he created in 2015 after quitting Rongsheng.

(Bloomberg) — China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Ltd., the shipbuilder whose woes made it a symbol of the country’s credit binge, said it planned to sell assets to an unidentified Chinese acquirer.

The company intends to sell the core assets and liabilities of its onshore shipbuilding and offshore engineering businesses, according to a statement to the Hong Kong exchange Monday. Rongsheng’s shares, which were halted March 11, will resume trading on March 17.

Once China’s largest shipbuilder outside government control, Shanghai-based Rongsheng has been searching for funds after orders for new ships dried up and the company fell behind on principal and interest payments on 8.57 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) of bank loans. Rongsheng’s struggles illustrate the difficulties shipbuilders face in competing with state-owned yards that have government backing and easier access to funds.

Rongsheng and the proposed buyer have entered into an exclusivity period while assets and liabilities are valued, according to the statement. The agreement will expire on June 30, the company said.

Rongsheng said March 5 it wouldn’t proceed with a proposed warrant sale after Kingwin Victory Investment Ltd. owner Wang Ping — a potential investor who had pledged as much as HK$3.2 billion ($412 million) — was said to have been detained.

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd. said previously it had been approached by China’s government about buying a stake in Rongsheng, and that no decision had been made. Yangzijiang Chief Financial Officer Liu Hua said today that the company isn’t involved in the agreement announced by Rongsheng, according to the company’s external representative.

Rongsheng has sought help from the government to benefit from a rebound in China’s shipbuilding industry — the world’s second biggest — after cutting its workforce and running up debts amid a global downturn in orders.

As orders for new ships began to dry up, China in 2013 issued a three-year plan urging financial institutions to support the shipbuilding industry. Ship owners placing orders for China-made vessels, engines and some parts should get better funding, the State Council said. A third of the more than 1,600 shipyards in China could shut down in the next five years, an industry association predicted earlier.

In September, the government responded by listing Rongsheng’s Jiangsu shipyard unit among 51 shipbuilding facilities in China deemed worthy of policy support as the industry grapples with overcapacity.

Some of Rongsheng’s subsidiaries, including Hefei Rong An Power Machinery Co. and Rongsheng Machinery Co., signed agreements with domestic lenders, led by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, to extend debt repayments to the end of 2015, the company said in October.

RUGAO, China/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Deserted flats and boarded-up shops in the Yangtze river town of Changqingcun serve as a blunt reminder of the area"s reliance on China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group, the country"s biggest private shipbuilder.A view of the Rongsheng Heavy Industries shipyard is seen in Nantong, Jiangsu province December 4, 2013. REUTERS/Aly Song

The shipbuilder this week predicted a substantial annual loss, just months after appealing to the government for financial help as it reeled from industry overcapacity and shrinking orders. Rongsheng lost an annual record 572.6 million yuan ($92 million) last year, and lost 1.3 billion yuan in the first half of this year.

While Beijing seems intent to promote a shift away from an investment-heavy model, with companies reliant on government cash injections, some analysts say Rongsheng is too big for China to let fail.

Local media reported in July that Rongsheng had laid off as many as 8,000 workers as demand slowed. Three years ago, the company had about 20,000 staff and contract employees. This week, the shipbuilder said an unspecified number of workers had been made redundant this year.

“Without new orders it’s hard to see how operations can continue,” said one worker wearing oil-spattered overalls and a Rongsheng hardhat, adding he was still waiting to be paid for September. He didn’t want to give his name as he feared he could lose his job.

“Morale in the office is quite low, since we don’t know what is the plan,” said a Rongsheng executive, who declined to be named as he is not authorized to speak to the media. “We have been getting orders but can’t seem to get construction loans from banks to build these projects.”

While Rongsheng has won just two orders this year, state-backed rival Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuildinghas secured 50, according to shipbroker data. Singapore-listed Yangzijiang Shipbuildinghas won more than $1 billion in new orders and is moving into offshore jack-up rig construction, noted Jon Windham, head industrials analyst at Barclays in Hong Kong.

Frontline, a shipping company controlled by Norwegian business tycoon John Fredriksen, ordered two oil tankers from Rongsheng in 2010 for delivery earlier this year. It now expects to receive both of them in 2014, Frontline CEO Jens Martin Jensen told Reuters.

Greek shipowner DryShips Inchas also questioned whether other large tankers on order will be delivered. DryShips said Rongsheng is building 43 percent of the Suezmax vessels - tankers up to 200,000 deadweight tons - in the current global order book. That"s equivalent to 23 ships, according to Rongsheng data.

Speaking at a quarterly results briefing last month, DryShips Chief Financial Officer Ziad Nakhleh said Rongsheng was “a yard that, as we stated before, is facing difficulties and, as such, we believe there is a high probability they will not be delivered.” DryShips has four dry cargo vessels on order at the Chinese firm.

Rongsheng declined to comment on the Dryships order, citing client confidentiality. “For other orders on hand, our delivery plan is still ongoing,” a spokesman said.

At least two law firms in Shanghai and Singapore are acting for shipowners seeking compensation from Rongsheng for late or cancelled orders. “I’m now dealing with several cases against Rongsheng,” said Lawrence Chen, senior partner at law firm Wintell & Co in Shanghai.

Billionaire Zhang Zhirong, who founded Rongsheng in 2005 and is the shipyard"s biggest shareholder, last month announced plans to privatize Hong Kong-listed Glorious Property Holdingsin a HK$4.57 billion ($589.45 million) deal - a move analysts said could raise money to plug Rongsheng"s debts.

Meanwhile, Rongsheng’s shipyard woes have already pushed many people away from nearby centers, and others said they would have to go if things don’t pick up. Some said they hoped the local government might step in with financial support.

The Rugao government did not respond to requests for comment on whether it would lend financial or other support to Rongsheng. Annual reports show Rongsheng has received state subsidies in the past three years.

HONG KONG, July 5 (Reuters) - China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group, China’s largest private shipbuilder, appealed for financial help from the Chinese government and big shareholders on Friday after cutting its workforce and delaying payments to suppliers.

Analysts said the company could be the biggest casualty of a local shipbuilding industry suffering from overcapacity and shrinking orders amid a global shipping downturn. New ship orders for Chinese builders fell by about half last year.

Hours after China Rongsheng made its appeal in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, where the company is listed, Beijing vowed to bring about the orderly closure of some factories in industries plagued by overcapacity.

The statement by the State Council, or cabinet, laid out broad plans to ensure banks support the kind of economic rebalancing Beijing wants as it looks to focus more on high-end manufacturing. It did not mention any specific industries or companies and there was no suggestion it was referring to Rongsheng.

China Rongsheng said it was expecting a net loss for the six months that ended June 30 from a year earlier, according to the filing. It gave no figures.

Rongsheng shares plunged 16 percent to a record low in heavy turnover on Friday, leaving its market capitalisation at just under $1 billion. The Hang Seng Index climbed 1.9 percent. China Rongsheng is down 28.2 percent on the year.

In its filing, China Rongsheng said some workers had been made redundant, although it gave no numbers or timeframe for the losses. The company did not immediately respond to requests for more information.

China Rongsheng has said it won only two shipbuilding orders worth $55.6 million last year when its target was $1.8 billion worth of contracts. This year, it received orders to build two drilling rigs used in oil exploration, worth $360 million.

By contrast, another Chinese shipbuilder, Singapore-listed Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd, has secured total orders of $1 billion in the first half, Barclays said.

While the Chinese shipbuilding industry faced “unprecedented challenges”, China Rongsheng’s board was confident management could ease pressure on working capital in the near future and maintain normal operations, the company said in the filing.

According to its December 2012 annual report, issued on March 26, China Rongsheng’s cash and cash equivalents fell to 2.1 billion yuan from 6.3 billion yuan a year ago.

“The group is ... actively seeking financial support from the government and the substantial shareholders of the company, and increasing its efforts in negotiations with its customers to maximise the collection of receivables,” China Rongsheng said in the filing.

A note from Macquarie Equities research said the statement highlighted the “severity” of China Rongsheng’s liquidity problems, adding this was not necessarily representative of the wider sector.

It said other listed Chinese shipyards were not as leveraged as China Rongsheng. The loan from Zhang was a surprise, it said, showing how badly the company needed cash.

“Rongsheng will need to address the problems immediately to reassure the market,” said Martin Rowe, managing director of Clarkson Asia Limited, a global shipping services provider.

The Chinese government has been trying to support the domestic shipping industry since the 2008 financial crisis, and local media reports said this week Beijing was considering policies to revive the shipbuilding business.

The holding orders of Chinese shipyards dropped 23 percent in the first five months of this year compared with a year earlier, according to the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry. New orders dropped to a seven-year low in 2012. ($1=6.1258 yuan) (Additional reporting by Yimou Lee and Twinnie Siu in Hong Kong and Keith Wallis in Singapore; Editing by Dean Yates)

Another once-leading privately-owned yard China Huarong Energy Company, previously and better known as China Rongsheng Heavy Industries, continues to struggle with debts and ongoing talks with its creditors. The shipbuilder with huge yard facilities is now literally a �ghost yard�, where operations have ceased as funds dried up.

Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Co. used to employ more than 30,000 people in the eastern city of Rugao. Once China�s largest shipbuilder, by 2015 Rongsheng was on the verge of bankruptcy. Orders had dried up and banks are refusing credit. Questions have been raised about the shipyard�s business practices, including allegations of padded order books. And Rongsheng was apparently behind on repaying some of the 20.4 billion yuan in combined debt owed to 14 banks, three trusts and three leasing firms.

Rongsheng is on the ropes now that it had completed a multi-year order for so-called Valemax ships for the Brazilian iron ore mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. The last of these 16 bulk carriers, the Ore Ningbo, was delivered in January 2015. With a carrying capacity of up to 400,000 tons, Valemaxes are the world�s largest ore carriers. Vale hired Rongsheng to build the ships starting in 2008, and has tolerated the shipyard�s slow pace: The Ore Ningbo was delivered three years late. Rongsheng employees said the Ore Ningbo may have been the shipyard�s last product because no new ship orders are expected and all contracts for unfinished ships have either been canceled or are in jeopardy.

Founder and former chairman Zhang Zhirong started the company in 2005 with money made when he worked as a property developer in the 1990s. The new shipyard stunned the industry by clinching major vessel orders from the start, even at a time when most of the world�s shipyards were slumping. Rongsheng�s success attracted investors and banks to the company�s side, fueling its expansion.

The shipyard, a sprawling facility spread across one-third of Changqingsha Island in the middle of the Yangtze River, suffered from a lack of capacity and management problems. As a result, the company had trouble meeting its contract obligations, including delivery timetables. Rongsheng�s problems were tied to difficulties with delivering ships. Many of Rongsheng�s order cancellations were due to its own delivery delays.

After the global financial crisis of 2008, many ship owners could no longer afford paying in advance for new vessels. So builders such as Rongsheng started arranging up-front financing with Chinese banks that got projects off the ground.

Rongsheng built ships with a combined capacity of 8 million tons in 2010 and was preparing to begin filling US$ 3 billion in new orders the following year. But the company�s 2011 orders wound up totaling only US$ 1.8 billion. That same year, Rongsheng�s customers canceled contracts for 23 new vessels.

In 2012, Rongsheng received orders for only two ships. Layoffs ensued, with some 20,000 workers getting the axe. The company closed the year with a net loss of 573 million yuan, down from a 1.7 billion yuan net profit in 2011 and despite 1.27 billion yuan in government subsidies. The bleeding worsened in 2013, with 8.7 billion yuan in reported losses. Despite a recovery of the Chinese shipbuilding industry in 2014, Rongsheng saw no relief, as its clients canceled orders for 59 vessels that year.

Roxen Shipping, a company controlled by Chinese businessman Guan Xiong, reportedly stepped in to rescue some US$ 2 billion worth of ship contracts that were canceled by Rongsheng�s other customers. Without these orders, Rongsheng never would have maintained its status as the No. 1 shipbuilder in China from 2009 to 2013.

Rongsheng�s capital crunch worsened since February 2014, when the China Development Bank (CDB) demanded more collateral after the company failed to make a scheduled payment on a 710 million yuan loan. When Rongsheng refused, the CDB called the loan. Other banks that issued loans to the shipbuilder had taken similar steps.

Rongsheng�s weak financial position was highlighted by a third-quarter 2014 financial report in which the company posted a net loss of 2.4 billion yuan. It also reported 31.3 billion yuan in liabilities, including 7.6 billion yuan worth of outstanding short-term debt.

It would cost at least 5 billion yuan to restart operations at Rongsheng�s facility, plus they have a huge amount of debt. Buying Rongsheng would not be a good deal.

Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Ltd"s shares have been suspended on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after a media report said that the company cut 8,000 jobs in recent months.

Rather than building cheap bulk carriers, many Chinese shipbuilders are keen to upgrade their product focus from shipbuilding to offshore engineering products, such as offshore drilling rigs, wind turbine installation vessels and offshore pipe-laying vessels.

Last year, Rongsheng Offshore & Marine was established in Singapore to seek new market growth points. Its business segments include shipbuilding, offshore engineering, marine engine building and engineering machinery.

"Due to the low pre-payment rates and delayed deliveries, many shipbuilding companies in Shanghai, Nantong and Zhoushan are experiencing a shortage of capital. Banks are not willing to lend to shipbuilding companies because they"re fully aware of how sluggish the business is. Shipbuilding is listed as a high-risk industry by banks," Meng said.

The company said that the struggles of its shipbuilding arm, Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries, had been hampering efforts to expand in energy services

China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Limited [1101.HK] has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding that will see its shipbuilding business, Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries, sold to an undisclosed potential purchaser.

The deal involves the core assets and liabilities of both its onshore shipbuilding and offshore engineering business, though the company stressed that a formal transaction agreement is still pending.

According to the company, the depressed shipbuilding market had led to operational difficulties at Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries, while its highly-leveraged state was also interfering with the company"s efforts to expand in oil and gas exploration elsewhere.

"The Potential Transaction shall adjust and optimize the assets and business of the Group, and divest the relevant assets and liabilities of the shipbuilding business and offshore engineering business, which shall help to ease the debt burden of the Group, enhance the flexibility of fund utilization, better implement the strategy of business transformation and transformation into an energy service provider focusing in the oil and natural gas market," said the company.

It was reported in 2012 that in the face of market difficulties, China Rongsheng Heavy Industries had turned its focus to building containerships with a "green design" as one its key products.

However, a year later, the company was reported as saying that the Chinese shipbuilding industry was still experiencing "unprecedented challenges" as demand waned and ship prices failed to increase.

China’s Rongsheng Heavy Industries—the largest private shipbuilder in the world’s number one shipbuilding country—is in a bad shape. Struggling with plummeting orders and soaring debts, on Friday the company

Rongsheng reported a net loss of $93.5 million in 2012 and said—with no details provided—that it expects a further loss in the first half of this year. Its orders last year numbered just two, compared to 24 in 2011 and it recently

China’s shipbuilding industry body said on Thursday that a third of the country’s yards could close within five years if the global economy does not pick up. “Because of the overall market, there’s no way out for the companies, so only the strongest will survive,” an analyst at Masterlink Securities in Shanghai

The shipyard of China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Ltd in Rugao, Jiangsu province. The company will generate HK$2.55 billion ($326.4 million) in a share sale in the next six months and HK$3.23 billion thereafter. [Provided to China Daily]

China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Ltd, the private-sector shipbuilder that had sought financial assistance, has secured cash for restructuring and announced changing the company"s name as it shifts focus to energy.

Shifting its focus to oil will need a lot more funds, which Rongsheng already struggled to get as a shipbuilder, said Francis Lun, chief executive officer of Geo Securities Ltd.

The company had sought help from the government to benefit from a rebound in China"s shipbuilding industry after cutting its workforce and running up huge debts amid a global downturn in orders.

In September the Jiangsu shipyard unit was listed among 51 shipbuilding facilities in China deemed worthy of policy support as the industry grapples with overcapacity.

Rongsheng said it has now received the results of an appraisal by an independent assessor, which will be used as the basis for the restructuring in which it also plans to change its name to China Huarong Energy Co to more accurately reflect its expansion and new business scope.

Rongsheng said it had sought the suspension pending clarification of the news articles, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange. On Wednesday, its shares closed down 10% at HK$1.06.

The job cuts at Rongsheng, China’s biggest privately-owned shipbuilder, represent some 40% of the company’s workforce, according to the Wall Street Journal, and sparked protests by workers earlier this week.

Lei Dong, secretary to the president of Rongsheng, is reported to have said that more than half of the workers affected by the cuts are subcontracted with the remainder full-time employees.

Shares in China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings, the largest private shipbuilder in China, fell by 8.6 percent in Hong Kong Tuesday, after the company issued a profit warning. The shares fell by 16.4 percent Monday.

"During the first half of 2012, affected by the decline of the shipbuilding market, the orders and prices of ships dropped sharply as compared with last year, which resulted in the decrease in profits," it noted.

China Rongsheng Heavy dropped by HK$0.1 ($0.01) to end at HK$1.07 a share Tuesday, down by 23.6 percent from its closing price of HK$1.4 a share Friday.

"China Rongsheng Heavy has been receiving a huge amount of local government subsidies since 2010. It received over 800 million yuan in 2010 and more than 1.2 billion yuan in 2011. Because its earnings are going to drop significantly this year, the government is expected to further increase its subsidies to the company, whose main business will face a loss without them," the news report said, citing an unnamed source.

China"s shipbuilding industry is facing bleak prospects because demand for the types of vessels it is good at producing has declined amid poor economic conditions, Hu Qianli, a manager at the Shanghai office of Norwegian vessel surveyor Det Norske Veritas, told the Global Times Tuesday.

Rongsheng has borrowed billions of dollars in debt since its launch in 2005, fueling a rapid expansion that has made it one of China"s biggest three shipbuilders. But a global slowdown in demand for new vessels over the past few years has hit the firm hard.

In July Rongsheng, which is owned by private investors, said it was in discussions with a number of banks about "renewing existing credit facilities." The company also said it has reached an accord with a company controlled by key shareholder

said in a written statement that a recovery in the shipbuilding industry is likely to be slow due to an imbalance between supply and demand. "Although the [shipbuilding] industry has recently showed positive signs that point to a rebound, neither new order price nor volume confirms a recovery," he said. "Shipbuilding companies still encounter difficulty in earning profits on orders."

According to a Sept. 22 report from The National Post, the Government of Canada (GOC) is planning to build $40b worth of ships over the next 20 years. Davie Yards Inc., the largest shipyard in Canada, recently announced a deal with Halifax-based Irving Shipbuilding Inc…

Davie Yards Inc. (TSX:DAV) introduced its proposal for the implementation of a National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy aimed at renewing the federal fleet and building world-class shipbuilding capability in Canada, while providing more predictable work for the maritime industry…

According to a Sept. 14 Bloomber report, ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany’s largest steelmaker, wants to dispose of parts of its unprofitable, non- military shipbuilding units, Financial Times Deutschland reported, citing unidentified people at the company. (Source: Bloomberg)

According to a Sep 9 report from AsiaPulse, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (KSE:042660), the world"s second-largest shipbuilder, said that it has completed the construction of the world"s largest floating dock. The dock is 1,437 ft long…

According to a report from WTOP.com, Salisbury, Md. based Chesapeake Shipbuilding is planning to build its third new prefabrication facility on its property on the Wicomico River. Company spokesman Charlie Robertson said an old building on the…

Shipbuilder stocks in Korea rallied today, apparently fueled on hopes the shipbuilding industry had hit bottom in the second quarter and that demand for new vessels may revive as world economies stabilize, according to a Reuters report. Reuters…

China"s largest private shipbuilder has signed this year’s biggest deal in terms of dead weight tons, according to the company. Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group signed a contract Friday with Oman Shipping to build four iron ore carriers…