Why Keppel isn't spooked by China, Korean rival yards

They have yet to prove themselves.

According to Nomura, China yards need to prove capabilities, long-term financing business model is not sustainable. Chinese yards have still not been able to prove their capabilities given a relatively weak track record of finishing projects within budget and time. 

As such, most of the order strength at Chinese yards comes from speculative orders and long-term financing with minimal profitability.

Here's more from Nomura:

We do not see this as a sustainable business model in long-term. 

Korean yards could go back to drill-ships/containers once orders recover. For Korean yards, we believe current interest in Jack-up space might be because orders for drill-ships and containers/large vessels have been slow so far in 2013.

With free yard-space at the moment, and continued strength in Jack-up rig orders, we think Koreans are likely competing for orders only to keep yards occupied. 

Longer-term, we believe Korean yards are likely to revert to drill-ships, containers and other larger vessels which have significantly higher revenues and lack of meaningful competition from China or Singapore at the moment. 

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