Down but not out

A total of 235 units were reported to Cargo Systems for its annual survey of ship-to-shore cranes on order for delivery in 2010 and beyond. Orders are 39% down on last year, when 384 cranes were in the pipeline. That, in turn, was down from 430 in 2008. The table overleaf details the current order book and the accompanying charts and tables show the five-year trend.

Given the prevailing worldwide economic situation and its effect on global trade, it is no surprise that the number of cranes on order is down. For several years the lead time from order to delivery for STS cranes has been well in excess of a year.

Manufacturers canvassed by CS say there are some signs of recovery and they are receiving more enquiries, partly about what the current lead times are. Whereas previously these would quickly have translated into firm orders, now potential buyers are holding off.

Eleven manufacturers have STS cranes on order compared with nine last year. Mitsubishi Heavy Industry and Hyundai Samho had no STS cranes on order last year but both report current orders in hand. It has not been possible to contact Doosan during the research for this survey and the numbers used are those reported in 2009 as being on order for 2010/11.

The number of cranes due for delivery to ports in China and Taiwan is up a little on 2009 but down from the heady days of 2007 and 2008. All of the cranes due for delivery in China and Taiwan are from ZPMC, which has been the case for several years despite other manufacturers beefing up their production in China. Orders from ports in other parts of Asia have seen the biggest decline, down from 117 in 2009 to 51 this year a 56% decline whereas other regions show a reduction in line with the overall STS crane market.

Large orders in hand include five cranes from Impsa to Tanjung Pelepas and orders from ZPMC to Busan (seven), Barcelona (eight), Hamburg (five) and Kaohsiung (10).

ZPMC has dominated the larger crane market for several years but this year other manufacturers also have some bigger units on order. Cargotec and Impsa are producing four and five cranes respectively with capacities of 82 tonnes. Still, most of the cranes on order at the top end of lift capacity and outreach are from ZPMC.

Cargo Systems would like to thank all the companies that contributed information to make this survey possible.