韩国造船厂加大拓展新业务

South Korea’s world-leading shipbuilding groups are moving deeper into new businesses to weather the worst shipping slump in 25 years.

一些领先世界的韩国造船集团正加大拓展新业务，以抵御造船业25年来最严重的衰退。

Many of South Korea’s small shipbuilders and Chinese rivals have gone under amid a fall-off in demand for container ships and dry bulk carriers. However, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung, and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering – the world’s three biggest shipbuilders, controlling about 40 per cent of the global market – are in relatively good shape, shielded by revenues from more resilient oil and gas-related vessels.

由于集装箱船和干散货船需求下降，韩国许多小型造船厂及其中国竞争对手纷纷倒闭。然而，控制着全球40%市场的世界三大造船厂——韩国现代重工集团(Hyundai Heavy Industries)、三星重工(Samsung Heavy Industries)和大宇造船和船舶工程公司(Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering)——相对来说情况还不错，因为它们有从与石油和天然气相关的船舶订单中获得的收入，这些订单比较不容易受到市场景气情况的影响。

Global ship orders dropped 53 per cent in the first nine months of this year amid oversupply. But Korean companies have fared better than Chinese and Japanese rivals as they continued to win orders for higher-margin oil drilling ships, liquefied natural gas carriers and offshore oil production facilities. South Korea won new orders worth $18.9bn, compared with China’s $10.2bn and Japan’s $2.8bn, according to the shipbroker Clarkson.

由于供给过剩，今年前9个月全球船舶订单减少了53%。但韩国造船公司的情况要好于其中国和日本的竞争对手，因为韩国的造船公司仍在不断赢得一些石油钻探船、液化天然气运输船和离岸石油生产平台的订单，这些订单利润率较高。船舶经纪商Clarkson的数据显示，韩国赢得了价值189亿美元的新订单，而中国和日本所获新订单的总金额分别为102亿美元和28亿美元。

However, even the big Korean operators are not immune to the industry’s sharp downturn, with their profitability and balance sheets deteriorating fast, because specialist oil and gas kit, although high-margin, cannot replace the revenues lost from the simpler vessels that had been their bread and butter.

然而，即便是韩国大型船厂也不是完全没有受到造船业急转直下的影响，它们的盈利能力迅速下降，资产负债表情况迅速恶化，因为专业性的石油天然气船舶尽管利润率较高，但无法抵消简单船舶方面收入下降造成的影响，后者是船厂赖以生存的“主粮。

The country’s three leading yards are able to get through the protracted downturn with backlogs of orders that stretch into 2014, with offshore equipment and drill ships accounting for about half of their revenues compared with about 30 per cent two years ago, analysts estimate.

分析师们估计，韩国三大主要船厂由于有已排至2014年的未交付订单，所以能够度过这个漫长的低迷期。目前，这三大船厂来自离岸设备和钻探船的收入占到各自收入总额的一半左右，而两年前的这一比例约为30%。

Although demand for offshore equipment and energy-related vessels has held up relatively well, a slump in new orders amid falling freight rates has slashed their profits, with industry leader Hyundai suffering an 83 per cent drop in second-quarter net profit.

尽管离岸设备和能源船舶需求相对坚挺，但新订单骤减，加上运费不断下降，已经侵蚀了韩国三大主要船厂的利润。行业领军者现代重工今年第二季度净利润下降83%。

The companies are also grappling with a funding squeeze as they accelerate their shift away from conventional ships, focusing increasingly on building more time-consuming energy platforms and offshore rigs.

这些公司也在努力解决资金紧缺的问题。它们正加快摆脱对传统船舶业务的依赖，日益把重点转向建造周期更长的能源平台和离岸装置上。

“Even the biggest yards could face a temporary glitch in cash flow because they have to wait longer to get paid for such high-value ships while customers make lower down payments, says Hong Sung-in, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.

韩国产业研究院(Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade)研究员Hong Sung-in表示：“即便是那些最大的船厂也可能面临暂时的现金流问题，因为此类高价船舶付款期限更长，同时客户的首付款较低。

To counter the bleak industry outlook and seek long-term growth, the companies have ventured into green technology such as wind turbine construction and are keen to enter the fast-growing market for subsea oil production facilities. In the case of Hyundai, shipbuilding now represents only a third of its revenues, compared with more than 50 per cent six years ago, as the company runs seven business divisions including vessel engines, building equipment and electrical power stations.

为了对抗低迷的行业前景并寻求长期增长，这些公司已开始尝试进军绿色科技业，比如风力涡轮机建设。它们也热衷于进军快速增长的海底石油开采设备市常就现代重工而言，造船业目前在其收入总额中所占比重仅三分之一，而6年前这一比重超过50%。该公司如今经营着7个业务部门，包括船舶发动机、建筑设备和发电站。

But analysts predict that it will take a long time for such new businesses to contribute to shipbuilders’ earnings. The renewable energy business has not been successful, incurring heavy losses for the shipbuilders amid weaker demand for green technology. Despite this, the companies plan to continue to invest in wind turbine production, betting on its long-term growth potential.

但分析师预计，此类新业务将需要很长时间才能开始为船厂贡献利润。可再生能源业务一直未能取得成功，市场对绿色技术的需求疲软，可再生能源业务令造船厂损失惨重。尽管如此，这些公司仍计划继续投资于风力涡轮机制造业，押注于其长期的增长潜力。

The shipbuilders, subsidised by the government, are also trying to develop technologies for subsea oil production facilities, with that market forecast to grow from $26bn last year to $131bn in 2020 as oil majors head deeper into the ocean for energy exploration. The market is dominated by western companies such as FMC Technologies of the US, France’s Technip and Norway’s Aker Solutions. Samsung is considering overseas acquisitions to obtain the complex technology to install equipment to extract and process oil and gas from the bottom of the ocean.

这些接受政府补贴的造船厂也在努力发展制造海底石油生产设施的技术。该市场规模去年达到260亿美元，随着石油巨擘纷纷加大海底能源勘探深度，预计该市场规模到2020年将增至1310亿美元。这一市场目前由一些西方公司主导，比如美国的FMC Technologies、法国的德希尼布(Technip)以及挪威的阿克工程公司(Aker Solutions)。三星重工正考虑通过海外收购获得安装设备所需的复杂技术，这些设备可以从海底开采和加工石油和天然气。

But Lee Kang-rok, an analyst at KTB Investment and Securities, is sceptical about the possibility that Korean players could become competitive in the subsea market. “There could be great synergies with their existing offshore businesses but it would be realistically difficult for latecomers like them to catch up with the leading players, given the complex technologies the subsea business requires, he says.

但韩国公司能否在海底市场取得竞争优势，对此KTB投资集团(KTB Investment and Securities)分析师Lee Kang-rok表示怀疑。他说：“配合它们现有的离岸业务，发展海底业务可能产生巨大的协同效应，但鉴于海底业务要求的技术非常复杂，像它们这样的市场后入者实际上很难赶超业内领先的公司。