Hefei Rong An Power Machinery Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Rong An Power”), a ship engine manufacturing enterprise rising by the bank of Hefei Paihe River, now has its name rise to fame in international market. Yesterday, the reporter learned from one principal of Rong An Power, as the marine diesel engines exported to Brazil have gained good reputation in the industry, the CEO of Petrobras has been attracted to seek cooperation with Rong An power, and the cooperation amount will exceed $100 million.

Heart of Ship: success in international market

Marine engine, known as the “heart of ship”, has been the bottleneck in the development of China's shipbuilding industry. Around 2005, the loading rate of China’s domestic marine engines is less than 30%; especially large-scale and high-end engines rely heavily on foreign imports. The situation of “Hard to get an engine” has long hindered China's shipbuilding industry. In order to revitalize national industry, and break the monopoly of foreign countries in marine engines, narrow the gap with Japan, Korea and other countries, Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group chose to invest in low-speed marine diesel engine project in Hefei in 2007 and began to create “Chinese Heart”. It is gratifying that it became a hit after its debut on international market.

The story begins in 2009 in which Rong An Power completed successfully the first low-speed diesel (6RT-flex68D diesel engine) for export in the short time of 16 months after the establishment of the factory. The speed created a new record in the world's engine manufacturing history. The first diesel engine manufactured by Rong An Power was exported to Brazil EIFA. Over the two years, the marine engines run well without any problems. The engines of Rong An Power are deeply appreciated by Brazilian ship-owners. Delighted, this Brazilian ship owner introduced Rong An Power to the CEO of Petrobras. Thus, he made a special trip to Rong An Power to specify the cooperation with Rong An Power. According to reports, the cooperation project funds will be up to $100,000,000, which will be used for the equipments of the drilling ships of this company. Next, Rong An Power will start the medium-speed diesel engine project, to produce such medium-speed marine engines specifically for Petrobras, which also explores a new land for Rong An Power in the international market.

3 million horsepower: ascending the leaders of domestic peers

After five years’ hard work, the achievements are conspicuous. The good investment environment and efficient service performance of Hefei provide a fertile land for the efficient growth of Rong An Power. Hefei is one of the cities for the implementation of the “Rise of Central China” strategy. This is a time when Hefei implements the development strategies of “Developing the City with Industry” and “Linking rivers and oceans”, with the project of Rong An Power as an opportunity, the dredging project is carried out in Paihe River and Chaohu Lake waterways according to three-level standard channels, achieving the goal of linking rivers and oceans. In the process of project approval, construction and development, “good opportunity”, “favorable geographical location" and “support from the people” gather in Hefei. Through five years' outstanding efforts of Rong An, Rong An power has risen and become domestic the largest marine engine manufacturing enterprise.

Today, the five-year-old Rong An has created numerous firsts in China and the world. It only takes 16 month from the construction to the delivery of the first diesel engine, creating the top speed in world’s engine manufacturing history; in two years, it achieved the first 1 million horsepower, while Dalian Marine Diesel Engine Factory took 12 years to achieve this goal. In 2010, Rong An Power manufactured 10 sets diesel engines of about 250,000 horsepower, made a industrial output value of 644 million Yuan and achieved a sales income of 310 million Yuan; in 2011, Rong An Power manufactured 40 sets diesel engines of about 730,000 horsepower, made a industrial output value of 1.2 billion Yuan and achieved a sales income of 1.1 billion Yuan. Currently, as the ship industrial economy continues downward, Rong An Power still gets good performance, holding a large number of orders, and more merchants are attracted. According to reports, the orders held by Rong An Power have accounted for 49 sets of 950,000 horsepower. And the production will continue to rise in 2013. At present, phase-I project of Rong An Power has basically completed, which can meet the production demand of annual 3 million horsepower, ranking the top in production scale in China. After putting into production, the production of marine low-speed diesel engine of Rong An Power will reach 5 million horsepower, achieving an annual output value of 10 billion Yuan.

In addition to marine diesel engines, the shield machines produced by Rong An Power also have a broad and long-term development prospect. On September 5, NDRC published 25 subway construction projects, with the total budget investment of 70.077 billion Yuan. And shield machine is the key equipment in subway construction. According to experts’ analysis, in the next 20~30 years, subway will be the main direction of development of public transport. Shield machine will have unlimited market potential, and Rong An Power is bound to have vacated rise.

Transformation and upgrading: seizing the unlimited opportunities in the future

Those not seeking long-term development will be not capable to seek temporary shortage. In terms of business development, Rong An Power looks at the stars as well as standing down-to-earth. In addition to marine engine products, it also makes full use of the advantages in equipment, technology, personnel and management to vigorously expand the market of non-diesel engine products, in order to hedge the risk of cyclical low business in shipbuilding market, and seek new opportunities for the diversification and profit growth. Now the non-diesel engine products undertaken by Rong An Power include ship shafts, rudders, and large-scale precision structural parts; the off-line of shield machines is a major highlight of Rong An Power in bolding expanding the market. On August 21 of this year, the shield machines co-produced by Rong An Power and CREC came off the production line, laying a solid foundation for the company to seize a seat Rong An Power fully understands that peoples' understanding of the ocean is far below the awareness of the land. The shipbuilding industry will gradually transfer from “serve the marine transport" to “serve the development of marine resources”. Rong An Power actively develop medium-speed diesel engines and generator sets to meet the demand of marine equipments, and now has completed the technical preparatory work. In 2011, the total order amount of global maritime work accounted for about $59 billion , while that of the first half of 2012 has exceeded $30 billion. The marine equipment market such as mining, drilling and marine energy production is likely to develop to a level of $320 billion. The substantial growth of the marine equipment market will boost the demand for medium-speed diesel engines and generator sets. Meanwhile, Rong An Power will be active in the R&D and production of the dual-fuel and LNG fuel engines; produce energy-saving and environmental protective engines through technological innovation and R&D, in order to meet the emission standards, energy-saving requirements and the demand of new shipbuilding and ship transformation market.      

There is no turning arrow when the bow is drawn. and we need to press forward when our steps are on the journey. Rong An Power will grow together with Hefei—this famous city by the lake, and become a shiny business card of this emerging city.