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According to Caixin, it has been learned from several sources that BYD affiliated companies will order eight ro-ro ships with a capacity of 7700 cars in a shipyard in Yantai, Shandong Province. at present, it is basically confirmed that six will be built, and the other two are option orders. the total cost is close to 5 billion yuan. BYD has not responded to the above reports.

Shipping is the most important channel for automobile export, and automobile ro-ro carrier is its main carrier. Usually, the transoceanic transportation of cars will give priority to the relatively cheap sea transportation, but the container transport mode brings strict restrictions on the size of the car and the trouble of loading and unloading. If the export car is transported by ro-ro ship, the vehicle can drive directly into the cargo hold, which can greatly improve the efficiency of loading and unloading.

However, the rising freight of car rolling ships is the main reason why BYD may build ships. According to VesselsValue data from big data Shipping Company, the rental of car ro-ro ships was 55000 US dollars per day in May and the price was raised to 100000 US dollars per day in August. Dan Nash, an analyst at VesselsValue of big data Shipping Company, predicts that the freight for ro-ro ships will continue to increase in the second half of the year, and the rent for ro-ro ships will reach 125000 US dollars per day in 2023, and may even reach a high of 150000 US dollars per day (more than 1 million RMB).

Why is the car transport market so hot? First, China's car exports are growing rapidly. According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, automobile companies exported 2.117 million vehicles from January to September this year, an increase of 55.5 per cent over the same period last year. Among them, the top five mainframe factories in export volume are SAIC (610000 vehicles), Chery (310000 vehicles), Changan (194000 vehicles), Dongfeng (171000 vehicles) and Tesla (165000 vehicles). Compared with the German Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Germany exported a total of 1.91 million cars from January to September, and China surpassed Germany to become the second largest automobile exporter in the world, second only to Japan.

Second, the demand for electric vehicles is growing rapidly, and electric vehicles need to take up more space and deadweight tons on ro-ro ships, which means that more ro-ro ships are needed to carry electric vehicles at the same capacity. According to the China Automobile Association, in 2021, China's electric vehicle exports accounted for about 1 percent of the world's total, making it the world's largest exporter of new energy vehicles. China exported 389000 electric vehicles in the first three quarters, an increase of more than 100 percent over the same period last year. The China Automobile Association predicts that under the continuous effect of the policy of stabilizing the economy and promoting consumption, automobile production and sales will continue to maintain relatively rapid growth in the fourth quarter, new energy vehicles and automobile exports will continue to develop well, and the automobile market will achieve a steady growth target for the whole year. The China Automobile Association also said that at this stage, the international environment is more complex, and there is still a lot of uncertainty about the impact of changes in the external situation. The foundation of the domestic economic recovery is still weak and needs to be strengthened and consolidated, and the car market also needs a sustained policy boost.

On the one hand, the rising cost of shipping, on the other hand, the crazy layout of overseas markets, BYD shipbuilding is not surprising. On July 11th, the compact SUV--ATTO 3 based on BYD e platform 3.0 (BYD Yuan plus) was officially launched in Singapore, realizing the debut of ASEAN countries. On July 21, BYD Yuan PLUS, Dolphin and Seal were released in Japan, announcing their decision to officially sell new energy passenger cars in the Japanese market from January 2023, which will be available in the Japanese market next year. On August 8th, BYD and REVER Automotive held a brand conference in Bangkok to announce their official entry into the Thai passenger car market. On Sept. 8, BYD signed a contract with WHA Weihua Group Volkswagen Co., Ltd. to invest in the construction of BYD's first overseas production base for passenger cars, which is expected to start operation in 2024 with an annual production capacity of 150000 vehicles. On October 10th, BYD held the launch of Yuan PLUS in Laos.

The layout of the European market is also going on at the same time, not only in Asia. On Aug. 1, BYD announced that it would enter the Swedish and German markets in partnership with European dealer group Hedin Mobility, and delivery of the first vehicles will begin in the fourth quarter of this year. On Aug. 3, BYD announced a partnership with Israel's Shlomo Motor Company, which will provide sales and services for new energy vehicles in its region as a distributor. On October 7, BYD announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with car rental company SIXT. SIXT will purchase at least 100000 new energy vehicles from BYD in the next six years, and vehicle delivery will begin in the fourth quarter of this year. The first phase of the cooperation market includes Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands. So far, BYD's overseas passenger car layout has spread throughout Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, East and Southeast Asia and other markets.

Whether BYD builds ships or not needs to be further confirmed by officials. Before that. In the context of tight supply of lithium resources, BYD is rumored to have found six lithium mines in Africa, all of which have reached an acquisition intention. BYD declined to comment, but according to the financial data, BYD suffered from the rise in the price of raw materials. BYD's overall gross profit margin was 13.03% in 2021, down 6.36% from a year earlier.

According to the latest financial report, BYD achieved a net profit of 5.716 billion yuan in the third quarter, an increase of 350.26% over the same period last year, and a cumulative net profit of 9.311 billion yuan in the first three quarters, an increase of 281.13% over the same period last year. In other words, BYD's 5.1 billion shipbuilding is only a quarterly net profit, but 5.1 billion yuan is invested in the future, and its value is certainly much higher than that of "5.1 billion."

At a time when the automobile transport capacity is tight and the freight price is high, as the largest automobile group in China, it has cooperated with shipping companies many times. According to an agreement signed between SAIC and China Shipbuilding Group on January 17, China Shipbuilding Jiangnan Shipbuilding will customize two ocean-going car carriers (ro-ro ships) with 7600 parking spaces for SAIC's Anjiwu flow body, which will be put into operation the year after next.

On October 9, Shanghai Automotive Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. signed an agreement with China Ocean Shipping Group Co., Ltd. Cosco Shipping Group intends to transfer 5.00% of its holding listed COSCO Shipping Holdings Co., Ltd. to SAIC through free transfer. SAIC plans to transfer 5.82% of its shares in Shanghai Automotive Group Co., Ltd. to COSCO Shipping Group for free. SAIC said that the free transfer helps to promote the deeply integrated development of advanced manufacturing and modern service industries, and deepens the business coordination and strategic cooperation with COSCO Shipping Group, especially in complete vehicles and

Spare parts logistics, international operation and other fields will provide the company with a more stable strategic resource guarantee of the industrial chain, and expand the market space for the company's new energy automobile products to enter the logistics and transportation industry.

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