In the height of summer 2022, a super heat wave swept the world. As of August, 71 national weather stations in the country have recorded maximum temperatures that have exceeded historical extremes, with some areas in the south experiencing maximum temperatures between 40 degrees Celsius and 42 degrees Celsius, and Sichuan Province recently experiencing extreme heat that is once in 60 years. Pe Coated Paper

From July to August, the temperature in shipbuilding workshops was even higher in the scorching heat, making work in shipyards almost impossible and forcing workers to take temporary breaks. As a result, some domestic shipbuilders were forced to announce that order deliveries were affected due to force majeure.

According to the latest data from the China Association of the Shipbuilding Industry, from January to July 2022, China’s shipbuilding industry completed 20.85 million deadweight tons, down 13.8% year-on-year; in terms of single-month data, the Chinese shipbuilding market saw a 44.3% drop in completions in July compared to June. Paper ‎Cup ‎Fans

A manager at the shipyard said, “The continuous high temperature turned the ship deck into a blazing hot steel plate, with records showing that the maximum temperature of the ship deck could reach 80 degrees Celsius, enough to fry one side of an egg.”

It is understood that shipbuilders will take force majeure into account when signing shipbuilding contracts with shipowners, but this does not mean that the delay in delivery affected by force majeure is “free”. Therefore, shipbuilders announced that the delay in delivery of orders due to force majeure is a reluctant move. Cup Paper Fan Pe

A shipbroker confirmed this view and said, “In exercising their right to declare force majeure, shipbuilders still need to demonstrate that they have made efforts to resolve the problem and take steps to make up for the delayed delivery of orders.”

At the same time, the definition of force majeure is difficult to quantify due to the varying terms of shipbuilding contracts and the lack of uniform definitions and assessment criteria for hot weather in various countries. Other shipyards may exercise the right to declare force majeure only when the temperature exceeds 37 degrees Celsius for several days.

In order to keep production on schedule, some shipbuilders choose to adjust the working hours of shipbuilders by moving up the daily start time and extending the lunch break, and continuing to work until late at night when the temperature starts to drop in the afternoon, for example, by choosing to do the ship painting application at night. However, the adjustment in working hours made by shipbuilders also means pushing up production and labor costs. Cup Paper Bottom

Another aggravating fact is that, due to the persistent high temperature, electricity consumption is soaring and the electricity load is at a record high, the work progress and production of the domestic manufacturing industry are also seriously affected: some enterprises in Jiangsu province have started to shut down production in turn, but do not pull the switch; industrial enterprises in Sichuan province “let electricity to the people” and have shut down production. The same belongs to the manufacturing industry, shipbuilding enterprises, the same can not escape from a series of impact of power restrictions.

Specifically, the most directly affected by the power cut is the chemical industry, iron and steel, metal smelting, building materials and other high energy-consuming, high-emission projects, will not have a direct impact on the shipbuilding industry in the short term, but the aforementioned areas belong to the upstream of the shipbuilding industry chain, providing raw materials for its production. The impact on the production of raw materials will inevitably cause prices to rise, and rising raw material prices will further compress the profit margins of shipbuilding enterprises, bringing sustained cost control and profitability pressure for the development of shipbuilding enterprises. APP paper cup fan

Since this year, domestic shipbuilding enterprises can be described as a constant blow. In the second quarter of this year, Shanghai and its surrounding areas shipbuilding enterprises due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic implementation of the closure control management, production plans interrupted. By the third quarter, some shipbuilders continued to be affected by the hot weather and were again forced to interrupt their production plans.

However, a shipbroker revealed another fact that it is far easier to exercise the right of force majeure due to high temperatures than to exercise that right due to the impact of the epidemic, as most shipbuilding contracts on force majeure do not take into account the impact of infectious diseases. At the same time, some argue that the view that “the impact of the Newcastle pneumonia epidemic is also a force majeure” is difficult to sustain because the de facto control of the Newcastle pneumonia epidemic is only a measure adopted by some countries and is not generally applicable to the shipbuilding industry.

Another aspect that has to be mentioned is that under the double carbon target, it is difficult to see a significant increase in the traditional supply, but both commercial and residential demand for electricity is gradually increasing. At present, China’s wind power, photoelectricity and other clean energy is under construction, the total proportion is still very low, but also exists unstable, “rely on the sky to eat” and other defects, the many places of the power shutdown measures, but also let us feel close to the shipbuilding industry’s green and sustainable development has been urgent. Fan For Paper Cup