China Rongsheng has orders for 10 Suezmax tankers

HONG KONG (Reuters) -- China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Ltd, the country's largest non-state-owned shipbuilder, has received firm orders for 10 Suezmax tankers, with an option for another 10, the company said on Thursday, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

Rongsheng has received orders for ten 157,000-DWT Suezmax tankers and options to build another 10 from a company called Global Union Shipping Ltd, Rongsheng said in a statement.

The vessels will be delivered between the end of 2013 and 2014, it said, adding that the order cemented the firm's position as the largest Suezmax shipbuilder in China and the second largest in the world.

The company had received total orders for more than 40 vessels with a total contract value of more than $2 billion so far this year, including the latest Suezmax orders, Rongsheng said.

"This represents a significant achievement in a depressed shipbuilding market," it said.

Shares of Rongsheng reversed early losses to rise about 2.5 percent to HK$2.48 each as of 0618 GMT.

Controlled by chairman Zhang Zhi Rong, ranked the seventh richest person in Hong Kong by Forbes, Rongsheng secured $1.3 billion in new orders in the first half, up 50 percent from a year earlier despite weak demand amid a glut in the bulk carrier market.

Rongsheng is deploying resources to the research and development of high-value added vessels, such as liquefied natural gas carriers and large-scale offshore engineering equipment, demand for which remains strong in light of the overall depressed shipbuilding industry, the statement said. (Reporting by Alison Leung; Writing by Charlie Zhu; Editing by Chris Lewis and Ken Wills)