Japan Shipbuilders Get 94.2% Higher Order in Jan-Oct

Japanese shipbuilding order receipt increased by 94.2% to 9.39 million gross tons in January-October from same period of 2009, according to Shipbuilders’ Association of Japan. The order was 49.6% lower than the recent peak in same period of 2008. However, the gap was narrower than 51.7% down in January-September compared with same period of 2008. The shipbuilding is gradually increasing. The ship export increased by 10.9% to 15.333 million gross tons in January-October from same period of 2009. Japanese shipbuilders have 48.31 million gross tons of order backlog at the end of October.

The ocean freight market is increasing for bulk cargo. Japanese shipbuilders expect the steady operation based on order backlog for about 3 years of activity. The new order is gradually increasing while they have to adjust the delivery for some existing order.

The shipbuilders’ order receipt in October increased by 88.5% to 675,300 gross tons from a year earlier. The export decreased by 14.0% to 1.491 million gross tons.