Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, the biggest private shipyard in China, is going to let go 2,000 employees by the end of 2016 in order to cut cost amid the doldrums in the shipbuilding sector, Chinese financial media Caixin has reported.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding had already slashed over 6,000 staff during 2015, downsizing its employee number from 28,000 to 22,000.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding currently has orders for 89 vessels made up of 38 containerships, 47 bulk carriers, two LNG carriers and two VLGCs.
The shipyard reported revenues of RMB5.7bn($855m) and a net profit of RMB853m ($128m) in the first half of 2016, down 35% and 50% year-on-year.
It has since suffered 11 vessel cancellations in the first half of 2016, eight of them already under construction.
Private yards in China are struggling for survival. Major private yards including JES, Zhenghe Shipbuilding, Mingde Heavy Industry, Zhejiang Shipbuilding, Wuzhou Shipbuilding, Sinopacific Offshore and Sainty Marine have all been declared bankrupt.
When contacted by Splash, an official at Yangzijinag confirmed that the company is laying off employees, but didn’t reveal the scale of the job cuts.
