From Ceramics to Shipbuilding: How *ST Songfa Leveraged Jiangsu's Late-Arriving Richest Person's Layout to Stage a Comeback as a Trillion-Yuan Giant?

In the A-share market, ST stocks are usually associated with poor performance, declining stock prices, and delisting risks. However, *ST Songfa has broken this stereotype. Once primarily a ceramic company, it now boasts a market value of hundreds of billions and astonishing growth in performance, becoming a market focus. Since 2025, its stock price has increased by 199%. From 2024, the increase is even more impressive at 590%, with market capitalization once surpassing 115.1 billion yuan. This performance starkly contrasts with the warning label of “ST.”

*ST Songfa’s transformation began with a major asset restructuring. In October 2024, the company announced plans to spin off all ceramic-related assets and inject 100% equity of Hengli Heavy Industry. Hengli Heavy Industry specializes in the R&D and manufacturing of ships and high-end equipment, controlled by Jiangsu’s richest man, Chen Jianhua, and Fan Hongwei’s family, under Hengli Group. By May 2025, the restructuring was completed, and *ST Songfa officially transformed into the “No. 1 Private Shipbuilding Stock.” This shift not only reshaped the company’s business structure but also led to explosive growth in performance. In 2025, the company’s revenue reached 21.639 billion yuan, up 274.95% year-over-year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 2.655 billion yuan, up 1083.05%.

Hengli Heavy Industry’s strength should not be underestimated. In 2025, it signed 115 new ship orders, with a total contract value exceeding 100 billion yuan. According to the International Shipbuilding Network, based on deadweight tonnage, Hengli Heavy Industry ranked second in China and second globally in new order volume. This achievement is inseparable from Hengli Group’s long-term layout in high-end equipment manufacturing. In 2025, Hengli Group’s total revenue reached 899 billion yuan, ranking 81st among the Fortune Global 500. Its industrial footprint covers refining, new materials, high-end manufacturing, and more. Hengli Heavy Industry, as a core segment, bears the responsibility of transforming the group toward high-end manufacturing.

*ST Songfa’s transformation was not overnight. As early as August 2018, Hengli Group became the controlling shareholder of *ST Songfa by acquiring 29.91% of its shares. However, the asset injection plan was not immediately implemented. According to regulations, if control changes hands and assets are injected within 36 months, triggering a shell company indicator, it is considered a major asset restructuring (shell listing), with the same review standards as an IPO. Chen Jianhua and his wife chose to wait. After 36 months, in August 2021, they gradually advanced the restructuring plan. This “delayed” capital rhythm avoided early regulatory uncertainties and bought time for Hengli Heavy Industry’s growth.

Hengli Heavy Industry was established in July 2022. At that time, Hengli Group spent 2.11 billion yuan to acquire core assets of the idle STX Dalian Group, which had been inactive for ten years, and began rebuilding production lines, assembling technical teams, and developing clients. After two years of development, Hengli Heavy Industry now has stable delivery capacity and holds hundreds of billions of yuan in orders. In 2024, the company officially started asset injection, timing it perfectly. At that point, *ST Songfa, due to its weak main business, had already been “dusted,” making asset injection the most effective way to preserve its shell.

In terms of industrial layout, Hengli Heavy Industry’s “lateness” has become an advantage. The current shipbuilding boom started at the end of 2020, but early industry overheating led many top shipyards to take aggressive orders, quickly saturating capacity. Some shipyards’ order backlogs extended from 2.5 years to over 3.5 years, approaching four years, causing many shipowners to shift to emerging shipyards due to long wait times. Hengli Heavy Industry, with new dry docks and flexible scheduling, precisely captured these overflow orders. In 2025, the company handled 115 ships, with a total contract value exceeding 100 billion yuan.

Entering 2026, *ST Songfa’s order growth remains strong. The company has announced multiple major contract signings, with total orders exceeding $5 billion, including high-end ships like 30.6K DWT VLCCs and 158,000 DWT oil tankers. To further strengthen competitiveness, in January this year, it announced a private placement plan to raise 7 billion yuan, investing in green, intelligent, high-end shipbuilding integration projects. As the delisting process advances, the private placement is implemented, and orders continue to be fulfilled, *ST Songfa is expected to officially change its name to “Hengli Heavy Industry,” bidding farewell to its ceramic era.

*ST Songfa’s transformation story is not only a comeback of an ST stock but also a classic case of capital rhythm and industry judgment. Jiangsu’s richest man’s “late” layout not only missed no good opportunities but also precisely positioned at the most suitable timing. In the business world, the true winners are often not the earliest starters but those who know how to seize the right moment.