Yangzijiang Shipbuilding still planning capacity expansion

China's Yangzijiang Shipbuilding today reported record high quarterly earnings for the three months ended March 31 2011 ... and made it clear that capacity expansion is still very much part of its plans.

Yangzijiang currently has a 20 percent ownership stake in Jiangsu Xinfu Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and last month said it planned to increase its stake to 60 percent.

Today it said that over the next three years it plans to invest RMB 4 billion to convert the Xinfu shipyard into one that can build very large vessels such as the VLCCs or similarly large containerships. When fully operational with a production area of about 166 hectares, the Xinfu yard is expected to have an annual capacity of up to 3 million DWT, which is equivalent to ten VLCCs or twelve 10,000 TEU containerships.

The yard is located at Taixing City, Jiangsu province

April 28, 20