08:57, August 03, 2009

Half-year review on performance of ten major domestic industries

Domestic industry has witnessed welcome progresses and maintained a good momentum of fast development since the fourth quarter last year thanks to the huge economic stimulus package and the plan of revitalizing the ten major industries by the central government. However, as the financial crisis is still plaguing the global economy, it will take more time for domestic economy to get well back on track, and some trades will probably face more severe challenges in the months to come. People's Daily Online examines the half-year performance of the ten major domestic industries, namely, auto, shipbuilding, iron & steel, textile, light industry, power, real estate, railway, civil aviation and port, analyzes the difficulties and challenges they face and reviews the progresses they have made despite the global downturn. Auto : Policies "igniting" rigid demand "Thanks to a package of government policies to revitalize the automobile market, the automobile market in China continued to grow rapidly in the first half of 2009, " said Dr. Winfried Vahland, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group (China). Full story Shipbuilding: Risks appear amid growth "In the first half of this year, we achieved 67.19 billion yuan in economic output, an increase of 16.8 percent year-on-year. Operating revenues rose 11.7 percent to reach 53.73 billion yuan and profits surged 20.8 percent to reach 3.34 billion yuan," said Qian Jianping, deputy general manager of China CSSC Holdings Limited. Full story Iron and steel: Remaining under pressure China's steel industry shows signs of revitalization thanks to the economic stimulus package in the first half this year. However, the recovery of productive capacity has put heavy pressure on the price rebound. Full story Textile: Exports down as domestic demand fills gap China's textile and garment export output stood at 13.95 billion USD in June, up 13.3 percent over the previous month and down 10.1 percent year-on-year. The cumulative export output between January and June amounted to 72.79 billion USD, down about 11 percent year-on-year. Full story Light industry: Reversing decline "In the first five months of 2009, gross output by light industrial enterprises above the designated level increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year," said Cai Daying, director of the Light Industry Information Center under China National Light Industry Council. Full story Power industry: Seeing rebound amid mixed figures In the first half of 2009 people from all walks of life closely watched changes to China's total power usage indicators. Statistics on China's total power usage from relevant government departments show that in the first half of this year, the numbers for China's power consumption have been mixed. Full story Real estate: Showing clear recovery trend The real estate industry, a pillar of the national economy, picked up after more than a year of decline and showed a clear trend of recovery.The most obvious characteristic of this round of recovery in the real estate market is an increase in housing transactions which have doubled in some cities. Full story Railway: Retaining fast growth momentum In the first half of 2009, China's railway transportation and operation situation gradually improved. In June, China's total railway freight volume reached 273.55 million tons, essentially with that of the same period in 2008. Full story Civil aviation: Witnessing overall recovery "The civil aviation industry has just entered its annual peak period. I believe that operations in the second half will be better than the first half," said Li Jiaxiang, director-general of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Full story Port: Cargo volume stabilizing In the first half of 2009, large ports handled 3.27 billion tons of freight, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year. The growth rate rose by 0.6 percentage points compared to the first quarter. Port handling grew slightly. Full story

Port cargo volume stabilizing

In the first half of 2009, large ports handled 3.27 billion tons of freight, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year. The growth rate rose by 0.6 percentage points compared to the first quarter. Port handling grew slightly. Due to the recovery of transportation demand by bulk commodities, such as foreign ores and crude oil, domestic coal and construction materials, the growth rate of freight handling has continued to increase for four consecutive months.

Although the number of containers handled decreased, indicators show that this number is stabilizing. The volume of domestic trade cargo handled increased by 3.9 percent, much higher than foreign cargo, a reflection of the current macro-economy, active domestic demand and weak foreign demand.

A look at cargo handled shows that 610 million tons of coal and coal products were handled by ports, a decrease of 6.6 percent over the same period last year. However, the rate of decline decreased by 6.6 percentage points compared to the first quarter. Due to factors such as the lowered price of foreign coal, the monthly handling of coal imports from April through June showed rapid growth, increasing by 2.2, 2.8 and 4.2 times respectively. As demand for coal from major coal-importers in the Asia-Pacific region shrank greatly, the volume of foreign coal exports was 28.4 percent of the amount handled during the same period last year.

In the first half of 2009, China's ports handled a total of 160 million tons of crude oil, up 6.9 percent compared to the same period last year, and the growth rate was 8.5 percentage points higher than that of the first quarter. Since the beginning of April, crude oil imports have increased sharply along with development of domestic oil refineries. From April through June, the amount of foreign crude oil handled exceeded 16 million tons, setting a record high.

In the first six months of 2009, ports handled 500 million tons of iron ore, a 14.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year, and the growth rate was 26 percentage points higher than that of the first quarter. In particular, the total amount of iron ore imports handled increased by over 20 percent for four consecutive months, largely due to the sharp drop in the price of "on-the-spot" international iron ore, which is even lower than the contracted price. China's investment in infrastructure also led to an increase in demand for steel, and some mills and traders purchased a large amount. The amount of iron ore imports in the first six months of 2009 was nearly equivalent to the total amount of iron ore imports for the whole of 2006.

A total of 55.97 million containers were handled, a decrease of 11 percent compared to the previous year. However, the rate of decline decreased by 1.3 percentage points compared to the first quarter. After reaching its lowest point in February, indicators showing that the rate of decline of container volume was stabilizing appeared. The volume of domestic containers handled finally recovered in May after declining for four consecutive months. Impacted by shrinking overseas market demand, the volume of foreign containers handled continued the decline which had begun at the start of the fourth quarter of 2008. However, the rate of decline shows a fluctuating yet decreasing trend.

By People's Daily Online