LNG Tankers Dodge Price Slump on China-Yard Shutout: Freight
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Liquefied natural gas tankers, the most expensive type of vessel, have avoided a slump in new ship prices because of rising Asian gas demand and limited competition from Chinese shipbuilders.
Prices for tankers able to hold 160,000 cubic meters of gas have held steady at about $202 million since 2010, based on Clarkson Plc data, bolstering earnings for South Korea-based Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the biggest makers of the vessels. Capesize dry-bulk ship prices have plunged 18 percent in the period because of a glut partly caused by China financing orders to prop up local yards.