Page 197 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2023

CAR CARRIERS

A NEW INVESTMENT

MAGNET by Giannis Theodoropoulos

In recent months, there has been increased inves- vehicles to Western economies, is also a tailwind
tor interest in the acquisition of cars due to the for the car carrier industry. According to Chinese
auto industry’s rebound after a period in which it customs data, the Asian country exported 500,000
was hit by challenges such as the pandemic and electric cars in 2021, and that number has been
microcircuit shortages. As a result, companies like doubling every year. Consequently, car carrier
Toyota and GM posted double-digit annual growth supply cannot absorb demand, with increased
in Q1 2023. freight rates and ship values being the most realis-
In addition to the traditional car-carrier owners tic scenario. After all, car carrier rates have recently
and managers like NYK and Wallenius Wilhelm- broken all records, according to information from
sen, companies operating in other segments have Hoegh Autoliners. The Norwegian company’s earn-
expressed considerable interest in such invest- ings reached $96.10/cbm in March, marking an 11%
ments. A typical example is Cosco, which acquired increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.
24 PCTCs through its newly-established car car- On the supply front, according to a recent Ves-
rier division. Moreover, the international press selsValue report, 65 vehicle carrier orders were
reports that French container carrier CMA CGM placed in 2022, exceeding $6 billion in total value,
has already invested in this shipping market as part i.e., the number of vessels ordered has increased by
of its diversification strategy, while HMM is consid- 20%, while their value increased by 32%. In addi-
ering a similar investment. tion, it is worth noting that the average tonnage
At the same time, given the positive outlook for of ships increased by 14%, equaling 7,982 CEUs.
maritime transport, electric vehicle manufacturers A particularly interesting conclusion of the report
are developing their supply chains through vertical is that the growth trend regarding car carriers is
integration. A case in point is SAIC Anji Logistics, due, to some extent, to the increased demand for
the shipping arm of SAIC Motor, which launched electric vehicles, which are generally bigger and
a new regular route between Southeast Asia and heavier than conventional combustion engine vehi-
Mexico to transport 1,000 vehicles. In addition, cles. This fact leads to a need for increased car
last January, BYD, another electric vehicle manu- carrier capacity to transport the same number of
facturer, ordered two dual-fuel LNG PCTCs with electric vehicles.
a transport capacity of 7,000 CEUs, in addition to It is also noteworthy that the car carriers ordered
the car carrier orders it had placed the previous were not small or medium-sized vessels. Conse-
year. quently, there is concern regarding regional trade
Increased car sales in key markets, such as the in Europe and Asia.
USA, have increased the transportation needs Based on the above, rates will likely hover at
of Japanese and South Korean automakers. The elevated levels in 2023. However, the increased
recent trend in China, which, although tradition- supply predicted for 2024 due to ship deliveries
ally an importer of cars, is now exporting electric may result in a rate correction.

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