Bangladesh Shipbuilding Industries

[tanzirian]

Great, we need the diversity...being too dependent on one industry makes a country more vulnerable to economic or political changes elsewhere.

[tislam84]

From shipbreakers to shipbuilders! Finally, Bangladesh is moving into the heavy industries sector!! This is very exciting news! Plus, shipbuilding is a very labor intensive process, so, thousands of Bangladeshis will get jobs in this sector.

We need to do a salute to the pioneers of the shipbuilding industry for introducing Bangladesh to this sector!

[Dhakaiya]

Its an industry with a lot of prospect. It symbolizes Bangladesh's gradual movement from the 3rd world to a middle income nation, which I hope will happen within the next decade.

[dopekhor]

lets just hope our neighboring countries cannot influence the workers in this industry to create an uprising.

[mirzazeehan]

Local firms to shell out Tk500cr on shipbuildingJasim Uddin Khan




Six Bangladeshi business groups will invest over Tk 500 crore in a year to establish shipbuilding facilities across the country, sensing high export potential of the industry.

The business houses with expertise in real estate, steel sector and engineering works have already formed separate firms and acquired land for their shipbuilding projects.

The groups that started their shipbuilding projects are real-estate company Rangs Properties Ltd, steel maker PHP Group, consumer products leader Meghna Group, trading house Khan Brothers, engineering products maker Bengal Electric Ltd and automobile distributor Nitol-Niloy Group.

They initiated their projects mainly in Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Chittagong.

Rangs Group Director Major (retd) Abul Fatah said the group had formed a separate company styled Desh Shipbuilding that recently won a licence to start operation.

The group carved out an alliance with a Chittagong-based marine engineering consortium, Prantik Consortium, to set up their project at Sadar Ghat in the port city.

“Desh Shipbuilding has its own land at Sadar Ghat where the project site has already been developed, and the company planned to invest around Tk 100 crore to set up world-class dockyard and slipways,” said Fatah, also project coordinator of Desh Shipbuilding.

If work goes in full swing, the project will be able to start making ships for export within one year, he said.

Asked why the company is joining shipbuilding industry, Fatah said Bangladesh has a broad chance to emerge as a leading shipbuilding nation as many established shipbuilders elsewhere in the world are no longer interested in building small ships.
PHP Group with a Tk 2,000 crore annual turnover is planning to develop a modern shipbuilding facility at its Bhatiary ship-breaking site in Chittagong.

“The company has adequate and suitable land at Vhatiary for the project,” said Ershadul Mostafa, manager (Commercial) of PHP Group.

An official involved with the project said the initial investment would be no less than Tk 100 crore.

Meghna Group having an annual turnover of Tk 4,000 crore will build the country's biggest shipbuilding facility at a cost of Tk 220 crore.

The group has already signed an agreement with South Korea's STX Heavy Industries to set up the state-of-the-art shipbuilding yard and slipways.

"We have started developing land at Meghnaghat on the river Meghna initially to make around 10 ships at a time. The capacity will increase further depending on international orders,” said Mostafa Kamal, managing director of the company.

STX is one of the top six shipbuilders in South Korea.

Khan Brothers invested around Tk 16 crore to develop a shipbuilding infrastructure at Gazaria in Munshiganj near the Meghna Bridge.

Tofael Kabir Khan, managing director of the company, said his company had constructed four slipways but full development of the project was being delayed due to non-availability of bank loans it sought.

He said the investment would stand at Tk 100 crore if the promised funds from banks were available.

He said the company is negotiating with some international buyers who want to place orders for building four oceangoing ships.

Bengal Electric also acquired around 50 acres of land in Munshiganj to start shipbuilding for export.

The company's Chairman Abdus Salam yesterday said his company would start constructing slipways in a few months.

Salam said the country has become a new home for making small oceangoing vessels with traditional shipbuilding nations such as South Korea and China now focusing on building large ships.

A high official of Nitol-Niloy Group said the company would develop a large shipbuilding site soon.

The country came under the spotlight in April last year when Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd signed $100 million worth of deals with two German companies to build eight ships to be delivered by June 2010.

Local firms Ananda, Western Marine and Highspeed Group have already bagged export orders worth nearly $500 million since the country emerged as a new global destination for shipbuilding last year.

Source:http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=58356

[tislam84]

The banks of Meghna river seems to be going under some major change! Great news!

[amar11372]

Marine Engineering and R&D Offshoring Coming to Bangladesh

[tislam84]

Ananda Shipyard building ships for S'porean co

FE Report

The country's pioneering shipbuilder Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Tuesday started constructing two ocean-going vessels for a Singaporean company in a further sign of emergence of Bangladesh as a new ship-making destination, an official said Tuesday.

Director of the company Rokibur Rahman said the two ships weighing 6100 dead weight tonnes and valued at US$ 23.9 million (Tk1.67 billion) will be built at Ananda's Meghnaghat shipyard within the next two years.

"We will hand over the ships to the Singaporean buyer-Hildebrand Singapore Pvt. Ltd.-by October 2010," he said.

Managing director of Ananda Afrooza Bari and representative of Hildebrand Saifuddin Qamar jointly keeled off the construction work of the two vessels at a simple ceremony.

Ananda signed the agreement with the Singaporean company in July last year, but needed months to complete further negotiations and formalities.

The two are among a fleet of 34 small and medium capacity ocean-going ships Ananda is ordered to build by top shipping companies from Europe, Africa and Asia. The orders are valued at around $400 million.

The company has signed ship-making deals with the Maldives and Mozambique governments and companies from Denmark, Germany and Singapore.

Ananda was first to transform itself from a maker of launches and inland cargo vessels into a successful builder of small ocean-going vessels. Last month, it exported its first ocean-going vessel to a Danish company.

Officials said another six vessels ordered by Mozambique government have already been built and will be handed over to the buyer by the first week of November.

Ananda's success has placed Bangladesh firmly on the global shipbuilding map since early 2007, with new companies now quickly setting up shipyards and slipways to win orders from ocean-going vessel operators.

Two more companies, Western Marine and Highspeed Shipbuilding, have also wooed orders worth around $250 million from Danish, German and Dutch companies.

Half a dozen top companies have also entered the lucrative business to tap into the $200 billion worth of global small shipbuilding market.

Source: The Financial Express: http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.in...&news_id=49330

[amar11372]

Edit: Wrong Section

[amar11372]

Western Marine Shipyard receives an order of euro 100 million.
Local businesses receive inquiries for products worth $400m

FE Report

The three-day German Trade Show 2008 concluded in the city Saturday, where the local entrepreneurs had trade inquiries for export of products worth around $400 million, the chief of the Bangladesh-German chamber said.

Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI) President Saiful Islam said the trade show, arranged for the first time in Dhaka, created huge enthusiasm among local and foreign entrepreneurs, and also paved the way for further bolstering bilateral trade between two countries.

"Local entrepreneurs received trade inquiries worth around $400 million for export of products like leather and leather goods, cosmetics, garments and vessels to Germany," he said.

He also said Western Marine Shipyard Ltd, a local shipbuilding company, received an order from an European company for building 12 medium size vessels at a cost of around euro 100 million.

The BGCCI President said 12 local and 47 German companies set up 103 stalls in the trade show, organised by the BGCCI in collaboration with the German Embassy in Dhaka and GTZ, to showcase their products and enhance the existing harmonious relationships between Bangladesh and Germany.

"The first-ever German trade show also helped our manufacturers to be introduced with the latest German technologies, use of which can help them get better output," he added.

Replying to a question, Islam said: "We have planned to arrange German Trade Show after every two-year, as there is a huge request from entrepreneurs for such show."

"We are really impressed with the presence of participants in the show. Around 20,000 locals and foreigners visited the show," he said.

Islam said the show will help boosting the country's export to Germany, as a number of local entrepreneurs availed the opportunity of sharing views with the German businessmen, the second largest destination of Bangladesh's export products after the US.

Bangladesh's exports to Germany increased from Euro 1172.45 million in 2005 to Euro 1556.60 million in 2006, recording a hike of 33.76 per cent. Besides, Bangladesh's exports to the country in the past eight months of this year marked 10 per cent increase compared to that of 2007.

The BGCCI President said: "As we enter into an era of global financial turmoil and worldwide economic instability, we realise from statistics alone the shift of economic power and financial strength from the west to the east."

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.in...?news_id=50322

[amar11372]

Ananda hands ferries to Mozambique Thursday
Star Business Report

Six Bangladesh made ferries will be handed over to Mozambique government Thursday next.

This is the second time Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Limited, the local manufacturer, goes to export vessels to a foreign buyer. Ananda sold its first ship Stella Maris to a Danish buyer early this year.

At a press conference in Dhaka yesterday, the announcement of the export to Mozambique was made.

The local company has been awarded orders for building about 34 ships worth $316 million from Denmark, Germany and Mozambique.

Ananda has already received about $38.54 million from its buyers in advance.

“It's a result of our 25-year endeavour. I believe Bangladesh will soon put its name on the global map as a shipbuilding country,” Dr Abdullahel Bari, chairman of Ananda Shipyard, told reporters at the Dhaka Reporters Unity auditorium.

Shipping Adviser MA Matin is expected to remain present at the ferry handover ceremony, due at the shipyard at Meghna Ghat.

Industry insiders said Bangladesh, known for its ship breaking, is fast becoming a builder of small vessels, as traditional ship building nations are now reluctant to build smaller ones having the capacity of less than 15,000 dead weight tones (DWT).

Japan, China, South Korea and Vietnam, known for building ocean-going ships, are now focusing more on building large ships with the capacity of over 20,000 DWT.

Cost competitiveness, technical know-how, skilled manpower and above all excellent communication skills of Bangladeshi ship builders helped the country to get orders, according to industry people.

They said Bangladesh enjoys the benefit of skilled workforce in building ships as some workers, who have working experience in different foreign countries, already came back to their own country and joined the local industry.

"It's a big achievement. Our main goal now is to maintain quality and ensure timely delivery," the Ananda Shipyard chief told The Daily Star yesterday.

About 300 small and large shipyards are now in operation in Bangladesh, which employed about 1 lakh people.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=62788

[amar11372]

Shipbuilders on the threshold of export binge
Staff Correspondent

Bangladesh is set to be swamped with orders for small ocean-going ships in the coming years as major Asian shipbuilders are now fully booked and are either turning down orders or delaying deliveries, industry people and service providers said.

Policy and fiscal supports from the government can help the fledgling industry fetch billions of dollars in export revenue using available local human expertise and resources, they said.

But, ‘Government supports are a must for the industry to sustain its growth,’ Patrik Wagar, regional sales director of Wartsila, a global market leader in power engines and ship machinery, said in Dhaka Tuesday.

He referred to substantial supports provided by the governments of emerging ship-making nations like India and Vietnam apart from major players such as China, South Korea and Japan.

Propelled by state patronisation, China overtook long-time market leader South Korea, commanding 35 per cent of the global ship market. South Korea follows with 29 per cent share and Japan 14 per cent, while Bangladesh is placed among Asian new entrants along with Vietnam, Philippines and India, altogether sharing 10 per cent of the total market.

There are 43 vessels on Bangladesh’s dockyards now waiting for delivery between 2008 and 2012, said the executive of Wartsila, whose local officials said they had booked orders for ship machinery worth $400 million from Bangladesh’s shipbuilders.

Wartsila Bangladesh invited industry leaders to explain its services in power generation and ship systems at Radisson hotel Tuesday.

Ananda Shipyard chairman Abdullah Bari said a huge pool of local expertise as well as skilled and semi-skilled workforces made the foundation of Bangladesh’s shipbuilding industry.

Delivery time is as short as 15 months, compared with global average of three years, which is an additional advantage for Bangladesh to get an avalanche of orders in the days to come, he said.

Ananda, the pioneer in local shipbuilding said the industry would need a bolstering policy and encouraging support packages from the government to explore its huge export potentials.

The company will deliver six vessels to Mozambique soon and start building four ships this month for a German buyer.

Ananda is the first Bangladeshi shipbuilder to go global handing over a 3,000-tonne to a Danish shipping line in May this year. It has secured export orders for 34 ships with a contract price of $373.50 million mostly from European market.

Western Marine and Hi-Speed, two other players in the business, are also working on a number of vessels.
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president Annisul Huq endorsed the industry’s need for specific policy support and fiscal incentives. Like the apparel sector, ship industry should also be offered back-to-back L/C facility for raw material imports, he told the business audience.

BUET professor of naval architecture and marine engineering Khabirul Haque Chowdhury urged Wartsila to help develop local backward linkage industry, apart from selling ship power engines.

Wartsila Bangladesh managing director Mohammad Shameem said the industry held huge potentials of export with more local value addition than many other export sectors.

‘We have huge local resources of high skills, which are the main strength of Bangladesh’s shipbuilding industry,’ he told New Age after the session.

He said Bangladesh would certainly get more and more orders in the days to come since major Asian builders stopped accepting orders for vessels smaller than 20,000-tonne capacity.

The company’s local sales manager Mahbub Morshed detailed on what Wartsila products and services are available for Bangladesh’s shipbuilders.

http://www.newagebd.com/2008/nov/12/busi.html#a1

[tislam84]

Watch out other shipbuilding nations! Bangladesh is rising fast! Woohoo!!!

[mirzazeehan]

Originally Posted by tislam84

Watch out other shipbuilding nations! Bangladesh is rising fast! Woohoo!!!

I am think we will hit a billion dollar export/year figure in a couple of years.What do you guys think?

[nayeem007]

Local firm to make deep sea fishing trawler
Star Business Desk

Narayanganj Engineering and Services Ltd (NESL) is building a deep sea fishing trawler of 'purse seining type', designed and built in Bangladesh for the first time, said a press release.

NESL will make the ship, which will be capable of both bottom and surface water fishing, for Fish Mark Impex of Chittagong at a cost of approximately $ 1 million.

Major Gen (Retd) Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, managing partner of Fish Mark Impex, inaugurates the keel laying ceremony at the NESL shipyard yesterday.

Senior officials of AB Bank and Prime Bank Ltd, some government officials and some businessmen attended the ceremony.

All the fishing trawlers engaged in deep-sea fishing in the coastal waters of Bangladesh are imported.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=63700

[iftikhar63]

Originally Posted by mirzazeehan

I am think we will hit a billion dollar export/year figure in a couple of years.What do you guys think?

Yes we will!

[iftikhar63]

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has expressed inability to give guarantee to any commercial bank in favour of ship building industry saying it is contrary to the existing provision, officials said Saturday. The central bank cleared its position at a meeting held at Chief Adviser's office last month on guarantee issue, which has been sought by the local ship builders.

Local leading ship builders like Ananda Shipyard, Western Marine and High Speed want such guarantee in favour of the local commercial banks to minimise the import cost of ship building materials. Most of local commercial banks rely on foreign commercial banks operating in the country for 'Letter of Credit (LC) confirmation' which leads to higher import cost, the shipbuilders said.

The BB, however, said the local commercial banks, which need LC confirmation, will be exempted from such obligation in coming years when they will adopt new banking regulation to improve their standard. With the adoption of the new banking regulation, known as BASEL-II, from next month the local commercial banks will get acceptability for external trade globally, the central bank representative told the meeting. The meeting was held to discuss the kind of incentives to be offered to the ship building industry, which has already fetched export order worth US $700 million in a span of two years.

Ananda chairman Abdullahel Bari said the stance of the central bank on guarantee issue is disappointing. "We did not expect such negative stance," he said, adding that it would deal a big blow to the growth momentum of the local ship building industry. The shipbuilding industry has flourished in the countries like Korea, China, Japan, India and Vietnam because of adequate government support, he said.

The CA's office reviewed 16 incentives, including bank guarantee, duty-free import, waiver of income-tax, land allocation, special fund, separate windows in the Board of Investment and the Export Promotion Bureau (EBP) and export subsidy.

The revenue board has already facilitated bonded warehouse facilities, allowing them to import raw materials duty-free without facing the hassles at the port. Experts, however, said other incentives are crucial as the local shipbuilding industry is still at its infancy. The incentives will help the industry develop further in the country that badly needs export product diversification amid deepening financial downturn globally.

They said local ship building industry has high potential to make $10 billion export earning in less than 10 years although the country's garments sector earned such amount in 25 years time.

Source : http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.in...&news_id=52829

[manbil777]

Initially a momentum is needed backed by incentives. Once things start moving then incentives can be slowly withdrawn. Duty free inputs (Special steel, welding equipment/consumables, ship furnishings and accessories) are only basic -- offered by other countries as well.

They need to provide shipbuilders with low cost (or zero cost) loans to buy these plus incentives to employ people in this sector. Rebates matching raw material purchases could be another idea.

[iftikhar63]

True, BB behaves strange!

[iftikhar63]

Shipbuilders fear strain



(A vessel built by a local shipbuilder lies anchored. Shipbuilders say foreign buyers are falling behind on payments for orders in signs of fallout from the global financial crisis.)


Shipbuilders say foreign buyers are falling behind on payments for orders in signs of fallout from the global financial crisis. Shipbuilders have said foreign buyers are delaying payments for orders in growing signs of fallout from the global financial crisis on the country's nascent industry.

Besides, the buyers, who have been negotiating with the local shipbuilders on building more oceangoing vessels, are taking a go-slow approach in signing final agreements, they said. Unlike other parts of the world where the shipbuilding industry seized up, local manufacturers, however, do not see any immediate risk of collapse of the industry or cancellation of orders in the global economic meltdown.

According to a recent report on shipbuilding, the buyers may cancel about 300 contracts, mostly with China and South Korea, to build new vessels. The report predicts that some new shipyards around the world may shut down. On late payments, Saiful Islam, chairman of Western Marine, said yesterday: “Buyers are falling behind on paying installments for the orders. This created some degree of fear for local shipbuilders. I hope the situation will improve soon."

On local banks' dithering over financing as often alleged, Islam said the banks had taken so long to identify the sector as a potential area for growth.
The banks are still slow to finance the sector."

“Bangladesh produces mainly small- and medium-vessels for European buyers. The financial downturn did not dampen demand for those vessels. We don't see any drop in orders in the coming years," Islam said.

Islam hoped that the numbers of orders would rise as the country has the potential to make ships at competitive costs.

But other manufacturers pointed to different developments that may take the edge off the local shipbuilding industry.

Competing countries such as India and China have adjusted their currencies against the dollar to keep pace with the changing scenario.

"Those countries cut interest rates. If the government doesn't lower interest rates, the local shipbuilding industry may lose out to its competitors,” said Captain Kamal, general manager of Highspeed Group.

Meanwhile, Ananda Shipyard Limited said it was in talks with two dozens of buyers to sign contracts in the last few months. Afruja Bari, managing director of Ananda Shipyard, urged the government to take immediate steps to lower interest rates for the industry.

Shipbuilding is billed as the most potential export-earning sector after readymade garments. Meghnaghat-based Ananda Shipyards, Chittagong-based Western Marine and Pagla Ghat-based Highspeed shipbuilding companies have received $750 million in orders. Several ships have already been handed to the buyers.

Industry people said the country has become a new destination for companies seeking construction of small oceangoing vessels as traditional shipbuilding nations such as South Korea and China now focus on building large ships.

The focus on Bangladesh came in April last year when Ananda signed $100 million deals with two German shipping companies to build eight vessels with capacity for 325 containers by June 2010.

jasim@thedailystar.net