Benzinga | Nov 8, 2021 09:55AM EST

GM's China Partner To Acquire Bigger Ships To Transport Cars: Bloomberg

* SAIC Motor Corp will acquire two ships capable of carrying almost twice as many cars as its current transport vessels through its transport unit, Anji Logistics, Bloomberg reports.

* SAIC has joint ventures with Volkswagen AG (OTC:VLKAF) and General Motors Co (NYSE:GM) in China.

* The roll-on-roll-off ships can both carry 7,600 cars. They will bolster Anji Logistics' current fleet of 25 vessels, which can only transport up to 4,300 vehicles each. A deal is likely to be signed in the coming weeks.

* The global ports battle congestion problems with containers piling up and vessels stuck outside waiting to dock. An increase in demand amid the pandemic for consumer goods further pressurized the supply chains, with shipments delayed due to the crisis in critical components like metals and semiconductors.

* It costs $76 million to build a new vessel that can move 7,600 vehicles.

* SAIC revised its export target in July and is on track to ship 55,0000 vehicles in 2021, up 40% year-on-year.

* Anji Logistics serves other carmakers, including Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and NIO Inc (NYSE:NIO), and its annual shipping capacity stands at over 2 million vehicles.

* As per China trade data, vehicle exports surged 86% to 220,000 units in October, while total car exports in the first ten months of the year more than doubled to 2.43 million units. SAIC was the top exporter.

* Price Action: GM shares traded higher by 2.68% at $60.09 in the market session on the last check Monday.