Posted on 20 Nov 2024
After a poor September, Japan's major shipbuilders received more orders for vessels for export last month, winning deals for 16 vessels totalling 687,400 gross tons (GT), new data from the Japan Ship Exporters' Association (JSEA) show.
Though the total tonnage was 70.9% lower than during October last year, the total was double the woeful 337,800 GT in just 7 vessels the builders had won in September, as Mysteel Global reported.
"October orders decreased on year because orders in October last year were high," a JSEA official said. In October 2023, the Japanese yards won orders for vessels totalling 971,040 GT, representing a 446% leap from the October 2022 level, as reported.
"Last month's orders were higher compared with September and the order backlog is still stable, so we're not worried about the on-year fall," the official said. October orders included contracts for four Handymax vessels totalling 146,200 GT and three Capesize ships to 284,300 GT, the data show.
"There is more demand for 'green' and new energy vessels, and also for vessels compliant with the new cyber security regulations, but those types will cost more and the negotiations between owners and builders will take longer," he remarked. "As freight rates have been rising too, this may also motivate shipowners to invest in new vessels," he added.
During October, the Japanese yards delivered 19 vessels in 623,805 GT and although this was lower both on-month and on-year, the volume nonetheless took total deliveries during the first 10 months of this year to just below 7 million GT, lower by only 6% from January-October last year.
The latest order statistics from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation show that during September, the Japanese steelmakers secured orders for ordinary steel from the shipbuilding and marine equipment industry totalling 223,000 tonnes, lower by 4.3% from August but higher by 2.6% from September last year.
The challenge for the Japanese yards remains costs, however, with the JSEA estimating that ship plate prices in China are currently around Yuan 3,626/tonne ($501/t). These are higher than the Yuan 3,308/t average in September but still much lower than those in Japan at about Yen 120,000/t ($779/t), it argues.
Japanese shipbuilders' backlog until FY'28 (March 2029)
Timeline | Number of vessels | Gross tonnes |
Total by end-October | 637 | 30,008,977 |
-FY'24 delivery | 89 | 3,960,027 |
-FY'25 delivery | 194 | 8,901,540 |
-FY'26 delivery | 174 | 8,076,920 |
-FY'27 delivery | 135 | 6,712,150 |
-FY'23 delivery | 45 | 2,358,340 |
Source: JSEA
Source:Kallanish
