● The shipbuilding industry has typical economies of scale. Under the situation of sluggish market and overcapacity problems, many enterprises will choose to expand their scale and reduce costs through mergers and acquisitions, strong alliances, etc., and thus enhance their ability to withstand risks.

● Japan has carried out large-scale integration of shipbuilding companies during the economic crisis. Through mergers and acquisitions, the gap between the size of Imabari Shipbuilding, Japan's joint shipbuilding, and famous village shipbuilding is narrowing, and Japanese shipbuilding companies have begun to shrink in the fields of over 20,000 boxes of super-large tanks and large LNG ships. Full competition with Chinese and Korean companies.

● China promotes the merger and reorganization of shipbuilding enterprises, and can learn from the successful experience of Japan's shipbuilding industry restructuring. It must also combine the development trend of the shipbuilding industry with the stage of the development of China's shipbuilding industry and the situation facing it, and apply different policies to enterprises. For example, in combination with the requirements of comprehensively deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises, the establishment of state-owned capital investment companies in the shipbuilding industry will be promoted; and the integration of domestic state-owned shipbuilding enterprises and civil shipbuilding enterprises will be explored through mixed ownership and employee stock ownership.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's largest shipbuilding group, recently signed a formal agreement with Korea Industrial Bank (KDB) to acquire Daewoo Shipbuilding Ocean. The establishment of a new company by the two major shipping companies means that it has a 20% market share in the global shipbuilding industry. The "super shipyard" that dominated the market for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships was born.

"When the market is in a downturn, it is often a period of high-level industrial restructuring. This is a measure for enterprises to cope with market crises and warm up the group. It is also an important opportunity for enterprises to seize opportunities to consolidate their market position." China's shipbuilding industry experts said that South Korea two The equity integration of large shipping companies will have a huge impact on the Korean shipbuilding industry and the global shipbuilding industry, and it is likely to stimulate other shipbuilding countries to accelerate the reorganization of domestic shipbuilding enterprises. As the main competitors of Korean shipping companies, shipbuilding companies in China, Japan, Singapore and other countries have already felt the pressure, but whether they will take further integration actions will also need to be considered in accordance with the specific environment faced by the shipbuilding industry in each country.

With the promotion and reorganization of enterprises, the concentration of the shipbuilding industry has also been continuously improved, and large-scale shipbuilding enterprises have continued to grow bigger and stronger, and SMEs will inevitably face greater survival pressure. Experts pointed out that the “Matthew effect” in the shipbuilding industry is more conducive to efficient and intensive use of resources for the industry; in response to competitive pressures, SMEs can take the path of “dislocation competition and differentiation” and do fine work. And give play to its advantages and achieve long-term development.

Seeking opportunities in crisis: enhancing competitiveness through restructuring

In recent years, the shipbuilding market has been in a state of recession, and the contradiction of overcapacity is prominent. Under this circumstance, mergers and acquisitions and strong alliances between enterprises seem to be the norm. “The shipbuilding industry has typical scale economy characteristics. Large enterprises have strong capital, technology and talent strength, and their advantages in research and development, financing, marketing, etc. are more prominent, and their survivability is stronger. The market is sluggish and overcapacity is prominent. Under the current situation, many companies will choose to expand their scale and reduce costs through mergers and acquisitions, strong alliances, etc., and thus enhance their ability to withstand risks.” Sun Chongbo, deputy chief economist of China Shipbuilding Industry Economic Market Research Center, said.

Japan, once the world's largest shipbuilding country, had carried out large-scale integration of shipbuilding enterprises during the economic crisis. According to Tu Jiaying, an industrial research analyst at the China Shipbuilding Industry Economics and Market Research Center, in 1979, the Japanese shipbuilding industry handled shipbuilding equipment and reorganized 61 individual shipbuilding companies into 11 corporate groups and 10 separate companies; For the reorganization and integration of shipbuilding enterprises, eight large shipbuilding groups have been formed. After the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, most of the shipping companies were in dire straits. Japan restructured and reduced 27 shipbuilding companies by more than one third. After the outbreak of the international financial crisis in 2008, Japan continued to promote the reorganization and integration of shipbuilding enterprises: In 2013, the shipbuilding of IWC and Ishikawajima combined shipbuilding was formally merged to form a joint shipbuilding in Japan. In 2014, the famous village shipbuilding acquired Sasebo Heavy Industries to integrate R&D. Resources, improve design efficiency, expand supporting procurement scale and reduce costs; In 2015, Imabari Shipbuilding acquired Changshi Dudujin Shipyard, and acquired the remaining shares of South Japan Shipbuilding in 2018; Fukuoka Shipbuilding acquired more than 90% of the shares in the shipbuilding in 2018.

Japan’s shipbuilding industry has also achieved remarkable results in promoting corporate restructuring and adjusting production capacity. Sun Chongbo pointed out that from the perspective of integration, M&A and restructuring have first expanded the scale of enterprises and improved their ability to take orders and build. For example, the completion of Imabari Shipbuilding has dropped from around 100 in 2011 and 2012 to about 60, but the tonnage has remained at a level of 4.5 million metric tons, indicating that its market competitiveness in the field of large ships is further enhanced. . Secondly, mergers and acquisitions make enterprises more efficient in integrating internal resources and conducting R&D, production and construction, and supporting procurement. For example, after the integration of the marketing and design development resources of Sasebo Heavy Industries, the famous village shipbuilding company responded more quickly to the shipowner's demand and the customer satisfaction was greatly improved. Fukuoka Shipbuilding further consolidated the chemical tanker in the world through the integration of resources with the shipbuilding ship. The dominant position in the market. Moreover, after the merger and reorganization, Japanese shipping companies can more effectively respond to the challenges of large Chinese and Korean shipping companies, especially in the high-end ship market.

"Through mergers and acquisitions, the gap between Imao Shipbuilding, Japan's joint shipbuilding, and famous village shipbuilding has narrowed with the scale of Chinese and Korean shipbuilding companies. At the same time, Japanese shipbuilding companies have begun to cover more than 20,000 boxes of super-large tanks and large LNG ships. "Comprehensive competition with Chinese and Korean companies." Sun Chongbo said that from the perspective of South Korea, there have been few cases of mergers and acquisitions in recent years. Hyundai Heavy Industries’ acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding’s equity has been basically settled. How will the two large shipping companies integrate and integrate in the latter period? The effect of this is still to be seen.

Pressure transmission: Singapore reconsideration of offshore industrial integration

After the integration of Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., the world's largest shipbuilding enterprise will be formed by complementing each other's advantages. The comprehensive competitive advantage will be more prominent, which will not only affect the Korean shipbuilding industry, but also the global shipbuilding industry. It is also likely to Stimulate other shipbuilding countries to accelerate the reorganization of the domestic shipbuilding industry to enhance the competitiveness of the global market. At present, the pressure of the integration of the two super-ship companies in the “super shipyard” has been “transferred” to the Singapore shipbuilding industry.

According to Singapore media reports recently, Singapore ship and sea industry experts pointed out that Hyundai Heavy Industries' acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding Ocean has brought opportunities to Singapore's shipbuilding and offshore enterprises. Singapore's ship and sea enterprises should grasp the adjustment of takeover transactions and resource integration after the merger of Korean shipbuilding companies. In the meantime, we will actively compete for orders in the offshore market. At the same time, we should also promote the integration of Keppel offshore with Maritime and Sembcorp Marine to create a giant enterprise, thereby enhancing the market competitiveness of Singapore enterprises in the field of offshore equipment construction. In the offshore market, it confronted Korean ship companies.

In fact, the rumors of the merger between Singaporean offshore giants have been around for a long time. In 2001, Sembcorp Marine, Keppel Offshore and Maritime had stated that they had conducted integration negotiations, but failed to reach an agreement and failed. According to Zhang Hui, market analyst of China Shipbuilding Industry Research Institute, Shengke Marine, Keppel Offshore and Maritime belong to Sembcorp Industrial Group and Keppel, respectively, while Sembcorp and Keppel are shareholders of Temasek Holdings. And the product structure of the two companies is very similar. They are mainly based on the construction of drilling platforms, floating production platforms and other offshore equipment. Recently, they have almost increased their R&D efforts in the field of LNG-related equipment, and they are deployed in the global shipyards. The distribution of the upper area is also higher.

"Currently, the global civil engineering enterprises are increasingly fiercely competing for new orders. In the short-term difficult recovery of the offshore market, it is not excluded that Temasek will merge or integrate the business of the two companies to enhance Singapore's offshore operations. The comprehensive competitiveness of the field.” Zhang Hui pointed out that the contradiction between supply and demand in the global offshore operation market is relatively prominent, and the offshore market is facing a situation of “wolf and less meat”. It is not uncommon for many shipping companies to bid for the same project, and the market demand for new products is mainly Large-scale floating production equipment orders are the main ones, while large enterprises have more obvious advantages in project bidding. Therefore, through strong alliances within the industry, they can achieve complementary advantages and have more advantages in project bidding. In addition, the integration and restructuring of the industry is also conducive to the elimination and reduction of a number of backward production capacity, prompting some small and medium-sized enterprises to take the initiative to withdraw or transform and upgrade, and promote the rebalancing of the offshore market.

"There have been many rumors that Singapore's two large-scale industrial enterprises are about to merge, but they have finally disappeared. The merger of the two major shipping companies in South Korea is likely to be irritating, but whether there are substantial actions still exists. Certainty." Zhang Hui said.

Due to enterprise policy: Sino-Japanese shipbuilding enterprises respond flexibly

In addition to companies such as Singapore's Sembcorp Marine, Chinese and Japanese shipping companies have also felt the pressure from South Korea. Experts pointed out that the "super shipyard" integrated by Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Co., Ltd. is far superior in scale and technical strength to Chinese and Japanese shipbuilding enterprises, which will inevitably bring huge losses to shipbuilding enterprises of the two countries, especially large shipbuilding enterprises. Pressure, but whether it will lead to further actions of the integration of Chinese and Japanese shipbuilding enterprises, it is also necessary to consider the specific environment faced by the shipbuilding industry in each country.

Cao Bo, research director of China Shipbuilding Industry Research Institute, said that the development of the Japanese shipbuilding industry in the past decade has been more cautious and has not significantly expanded production capacity. In the past few years, through integration, it has cultivated the largest shipbuilding company, Imabari Shipbuilding, and Japanese shipbuilding companies. There has also been a certain industrial alliance between them. For example, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Imabari Shipbuilding, Nagura Shipbuilding, Oshima Shipbuilding have formed a merchant shipping business alliance, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding and Tsuneishi Shipbuilding have also signed business cooperation agreements. From this point of view, even in the face of the aggressiveness of South Korea to form a "super shipyard", the Japanese shipbuilding industry is also very likely to "hold the move" and continue to maintain the existing business layout.

In recent years, the global shipbuilding market, China, Japan and South Korea's "three-legged" competition pattern has gradually turned into a "double-fighting competition" between China and South Korea. Compared with Japanese shipbuilding enterprises, the pressure on the integration of large-scale shipbuilding enterprises in China is greater. "Currently, there are problems in the global manufacturing industry, 'low-end surplus, high-end shortage'. If enterprises want to obtain more profits, they must transform and upgrade, invest more resources to innovate R&D and enhance competitiveness. The shipbuilding industry belongs to capital, labor and In the 'three-intensive' industry with technology combination, under the situation that the market continues to be sluggish, it is not easy for ship-owners to rely on their own efforts to reduce costs and maintain operation. It is more difficult to invest heavily in innovation and upgrade, and there are certain technical risks. Enterprises cooperate with each other to reduce homogenization competition and jointly meet challenges, which will help both sides get out of the predicament and achieve industrial and technological upgrading," Cao Bo said.

At present, the industry's speculation about the integration of China's shipbuilding enterprises is also divided. Most of them hold the view of promoting the reorganization of shipbuilding enterprises, but there is no official channel news. However, from the characteristics of the development of the industry and the current situation, the restructuring and restructuring of China's shipbuilding industry may be imperative. Then, if China's shipbuilding enterprises carry out mergers and acquisitions, what kind of methods can be adopted? Industry experts also give suggestions.

"The merger and reorganization of shipbuilding enterprises should be combined with structural adjustment, management improvement, technological innovation, brand and quality construction." Sun Chongbo pointed out that at present, there are not many leading shipping companies in the world, and the promotion of shipbuilding and enterprise mergers and acquisitions, on the one hand You can learn from the successful experience of the Japanese shipbuilding industry restructuring in the previous rounds of ship crisis. For example, adhere to the active guidance of the government and the strong support of industrial policies, promote fair and efficient competition among major shipping companies on the basis of increasing industry concentration, promote resource sharing and avoid waste of resources caused by repeated investment. On the other hand, it is necessary to combine the current development trend of the world shipbuilding industry with the stage of the development of China's shipbuilding industry and the situation facing it. For example, aiming at the direction and trend of smart ships and smart shipyards, integrating domestic superior shipbuilding enterprises from the perspective of helping to promote management level and efficiency improvement, and strengthening quality brand building, to become bigger and better and become a world-class enterprise; The requirements of enterprise reform, promote the formation of state-owned capital investment companies in the shipbuilding industry; explore the integration of domestic state-owned shipbuilding enterprises and civil shipbuilding enterprises through mixed ownership and employee stock ownership. In addition, in the case of the ship industry's comprehensive liberalization of foreign investment restrictions, the merger and reorganization of China's import enterprises should not only be limited to domestic enterprises, but should be based on the whole world, explore joint ventures with leading companies in Japan and Korea, and even absorb. High-quality resources such as R&D institutions and supporting enterprises in Europe and America.

Dislocation competition: small and medium-sized shipping companies should deal with the "Matthew effect"

In recent years, with the restructuring of shipbuilding enterprises, the global shipbuilding industry concentration has continued to rise, and large shipbuilding companies have occupied most of the market share. The competition in the industry is mainly represented by competition among large shipbuilding enterprises. Large-scale shipbuilding companies continue to integrate and strengthen the alliance, which inevitably will result in the stronger Matthew effect. It is understood that the completion of shipbuilding in large-scale shipbuilding companies in South Korea accounts for more than 90% of the country's total. The top ten shipbuilding companies in Japan account for more than 90% of the shipbuilding completion. In the situation of continued market downturn, small and medium-sized ship enterprises are facing more competitive pressures in order to compete for orders and survive. Many enterprises have closed down in the ship market crisis, and the surviving enterprises have also fallen into “no food to eat” and “not enough to eat”. Dilemma.

“Industry concentration continues to rise, and the shipbuilding industry has a 'Matthew effect', which is more conducive to the efficient and intensive use of resources for the industry. At the same time, this is a dislocation competition and differential development with large shipping companies and small and medium-sized shipping companies. 'There is no contradiction. Some small and medium-sized shipbuilding enterprises that are specialized, precise, special and sharp will have certain development space.” Sun Chongbo pointed out that “having food to eat” and “no food to eat” is not determined by the size of the enterprise. It is to see whether the company can have an accurate understanding of the market and whether it can adjust the production and operation strategies in a timely manner according to market changes.

Sun Chongbo said that from the perspective of Japan and South Korea, both countries have some small and medium-sized shipbuilding enterprises with strong competitiveness. After several rounds of shipbuilding market ups and downs, they still have strong viability. Large-scale shipbuilding giants are leading in large-scale production, new technology development, advanced equipment and process technology applications due to their scale of operation and technological advantages, and can respond more quickly and adjust to new rules and regulations of international maritime affairs. In contrast, SMEs are often constrained by capital, technology, and personnel constraints. They may be slightly inadequate in R&D investment and new equipment and new process applications in cutting-edge frontiers, but they have the advantage of flexible operation in focused product areas. Can also be the ultimate. Therefore, in the face of the competitive pressure of the shipbuilding giants, small and medium-sized shipping companies should not be in a mess, but they should take advantage of their strengths, make efforts in the subdivided ship-type market that they are good at, and do a good job in the market to win a place in the market.