Due to high ship prices, orders received by Japanese shipping companies continued to decline. However, the number of orders in hand continued to grow, hitting a new high in the past four years. On May 17, the Japan Ship Exporters Association (JSEA) released the order data of Japanese shipping companies in April 2023.
Due to high ship prices, orders received by Japanese shipping companies continued to decline. However, the number of orders in hand continued to grow, hitting a new high in the past four years. On May 17, the Japan Ship Exporters Association (JSEA) released the order data of Japanese shipping companies in April 2023.
Last month, Japanese shipping companies received orders for 16 ships of 637,900 GT, a year-on-year drop of 66.6%. In the first four months of this year, Japanese shipping companies received a total of 87 orders of 3.54187 million GT, a decrease of 24.5% compared with the same period last year. Japanese media analysis pointed out that due to the sharp drop in demand for container ships and the sharp shrinkage of market demand, the current steel prices directly related to ship prices continue to rise, and ship owners hold a wait-and-see attitude towards ordering new ships.
In addition, due to the recovery of the global economy in the same period last year, the demand for logistics was strong, and orders for new ships increased significantly. As of the end of April, Japanese shipping companies had orders for approximately 497 ships (22.18 million GT), which continued to grow compared to the 22.16 million GT at the end of March, growing for the fifth consecutive month. Based on the amount of completion in 2022, the current order book in hand is equivalent to about 2.6 years of work, which is higher than about 1.9 years at the end of 2021.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
