China carriers face ship-buying pressure

China carriers face ship-buying pressure    China's state-run ocean carriers may be forced to buy up vessels left unsold due to scrapped orders from hurting foreign carriers, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
   The report quoted China-based shipping analysts who suggested Beijing might put pressure on its state-owned carriers to come to the aid of the country's state-owned shipyards.
   Carriers who ordered bulk, dry bulk and containerships over the past few years have been beset by low demand and plunging rates, affecting their ability and desire to take on new capacity. Reports have abounded of carriers negotiating deals with shipyards in Korea and Taiwan about canceling or delaying ship deliveries.
   Bulk carriers were quicker to cancel orders for new ships than container lines, who have so far found little success in pushing back deliveries.
   'China's biggest shipbuilders, who construct more than 70 percent of dry bulk carriers, haven't won an order since October, according to Morgan Stanley,' the report said. 'The shipyard stimulus may worsen the overcapacity that contributed to the Baltic Dry Index's biggest decline in more than two decades.
   'China COSCO Holdings Co., the world's largest operator of bulk cargo ships, last year canceled plans to order 126 vessels as rates plunged. China COSCO spokesman Hu Yu said he wasn't aware of any plans to buy more ships. The company had a fleet of 462 owned and chartered dry bulk ships as of Sept. 30, with another 62 on order.'