Hits:Updated:2016-05-24 15:05:33【Print】
1. Objective conditions for the transfer of shipping finance industry to Asia
For the shipping industry, the importance of the Asian market has grown significantly in recent years. At present, the global merchant shipbuilding business is mainly concentrated in China, South Korea and Japan. Eight of the world's largest seaports are also located in Asia. Shipping companies and banks in Asia, which are closely linked to the transshipment of goods by sea and the manufacture of merchant ships, are becoming increasingly important. Therefore, the objective conditions for the transfer of global shipping finance business to Asia are constantly being formed, which can be roughly divided into the following aspects:
(1) Busy Asian shipping market
Against the background of sluggish global economic growth, the Asian economy and shipping market still maintained a relatively stable development trend. According to the 2014 Global Port Development Report and the 2015 First Quarter Global Port Development Report released by Shanghai International Shipping Center, it can be seen that among the top ten ports in the world, Asian ports have an absolute advantage, with about 8 to 9 ports, The proportion of cargo throughput of Asian ports in the total cargo throughput of the top ten ports has remained at around 85%.
As can be seen from the development of the world's top ten ports, the shipping market in Asia still has unparalleled advantages. Therefore, some non-Asian international shipping companies in the world are actively deploying the Asian shipping market, taking the intra-Asian route as one of their main international transportation routes. At the same time, they have also continuously strengthened their presence in the Asian market, such as setting up their own office departments in Asia, and even setting up specialized subsidiaries to share the development dividends of the Asian shipping market. The prosperity of the Asian shipping market provides the soil for the development of the shipping finance business. At the same time, due to the impact of the economic downturn in Europe, the ability of European financial institutions to provide funds for the shipping market is constantly weakening, which is also one of the objective conditions for the transfer of shipping finance business to Asia.
(2) The prosperous Asian shipbuilding market
The shipbuilding orders of China, South Korea and Japan among the Asian countries together account for 86% of the global order volume. Among them, the new shipbuilding orders of Chinese shipbuilding companies were 41.1 million CGT, accounting for 38% of the global order volume; the new shipbuilding orders of Korean shipbuilding companies were 32.45 million CGT, accounting for 30% of the global order volume; Japanese shipbuilding companies’ new shipbuilding orders The order volume was 19.47 million CGT, accounting for 18% of the global order volume.
The prosperity of the Asian shipbuilding market has promoted the growth of new shipbuilding financing business, laid a solid foundation for the development of the shipping financial market, and opened up a direction for Asian financial enterprises to explore the shipping financial business. Non-Asian international shipping companies are also actively cooperating on projects with Asian banks, private and institutional investors in financing newbuildings or second-hand ships. A small number of Asian financial institutions and investors are exploring shipping finance businesses such as refinancing of existing ship loans. However, due to the impact of the global shipping market downturn, the main cooperation projects of Asian financial institutions in the field of shipping finance are related to the financing of new shipbuilding or second-hand ship trading. company. At the same time, the slump in the global shipping market has also led to the increased financing requirements of Asian financial institutions for shipping companies, such as adjusting the financing structure, long-term leases or higher risk premiums for single-asset financing transactions, which further increases the financing costs of shipping companies. .
(3) Active Asian Financial Institutions
Among the top 40 shipping commercial banks in the world, the number of shipping commercial banks in Asia accounts for 25%; among the top 10 shipping commercial banks, there are four in Asia, which are Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, South Korea Export-Import Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ. While traditional shipping finance institutions are still concentrated in Europe, financial institutions in Asia are clearly actively developing shipping finance businesses.
With the diversification of financing methods for international shipping companies, Asian financial institutions are also trying new financing projects. For example, private equity financing is a new approach that many institutions and individual investors in Asia are currently exploring to meet the different financing needs of international cargo transportation companies. Way. Unlike traditional ship financing methods such as bank loans, family-owned funds and equity financing, individual and institutional investors in private equity financing provide shipbuilding financing by setting up a private equity fund with an investment period of 5 to 7 years. Financing for the purpose of obtaining income by selling assets at the end of the investment period. This new form of financing is gradually being favored by international shipping companies.
2 How to view the development of shipping finance in Asia
(1) Compared with how to encourage the development of the Asian shipping financial market, Asian countries may need to take a longer-term view. The main problem that may be faced in the future is how to deal with the development of shipping finance. While European banks continue to compress shipping financing, the financing targets of international shipping companies are gradually changing from European banks to Asian financial institutions. Asian financial institutions are also expanding their business in the shipping finance sector, with their market share rising from 20% to 30% now. The center of gravity of the shipping market is shifting to the Asian market. Therefore, how to deal with this shift may make more sense for the current Asian shipping financial market.
(2) The shipping finance industry represented by the high-end shipping service industry can actually be divided into two categories, one is the traditional shipping finance industry that provides financial support for ship financing, and the other is the trading object of shipping financial derivatives A modern shipping finance industry that can obtain investment income or use it as a hedging tool to resolve shipping market risks. In the future, the development of the Asian shipping financial market should not be limited to the former. Considering the inherent high risk of the shipping market, the application of the latter may be a direction that financial institutions in Asian countries need to seriously consider. Since high-end shipping finance involves the combination of modern financial derivatives and traditional shipping markets, financial institutions in Asian countries still have a long way to go in this regard.
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