Orders at Japanese shipyards continue to fall as investment appetite in dry bulk carriers wanes.
Japanese shipyards specialise in building dry bulk carriers.
Figures from the Japan Ship Exporters’ Association (JSEA) showed its member shipyards clinched 22 export orders totalling 1,369,550 gt in April 2015, down from 29 export orders of 1,475,800 gt in April 2014.
Related news:Japanese yard orders down 36%
The Baltic Dry Index’s plunge to a historic low in February has been discouraging investment in bulkers, as China’s coal demand slows and Indonesia shows no sign of resuming exports of raw ore. A deluge of bulker newbuilding deliveries in 2015 makes the market outlook bleak.
The orders in April comprised two Capesize bulkers, one Handysize bulker, four Handymax bulkers, two Panamax bulkers, five log carriers, two VLCCs, three Aframax tankers, two LNG carriers, and one products tanker.
JSEA member shipyards exported 20 ships of 702,381 gt in April, down from the 22 ships of 848,240 gt exported in April 2014.
As of 30 April 2015, Japanese shipyards’ outstanding orderbook stood at 634 ships of 28,290,310 gt, compared with 661 ships of 28,068,500 gt over the same period in 2014.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
