Japanese Shipbuilders Showed Outstanding Performance in July

It has been found that Japanese shipbuilders won 11 new contracts equivalent to 440,000 CGT last month to outperform their South Korean and Chinese counterparts and rise back to the top. Most of the contracts are between Japanese companies. For example, NYK and JMU signed five contracts for 14,000 TEU container carriers and MOL and Honda Zosen signed three for multi-purpose ships. Chinese shipbuilders ranked second with 320,000 CGT and 12 contracts, followed by South Korean (20,000 CGT and one contract).

South Korean shipbuilders’ order backlog decreased to 23.87 million CGT, a 152-month low, last month as their delivery increased amid the shortage of new contract. Likewise, the global total order backlog in the industry hit a 137-month low of 98.18 million CGT last month.

In the meantime, South Korean shipbuilders accounted for 48% of the global total delivery in July by delivering a number of offshore plants after some delay. It was followed by Chinese (35%) and Japanese (8.7%). Japanese companies’ order backlog for that month totaled 22.13 million CGT and the gap between South Korean and Japanese companies narrowed down to 1.74 million CGT, the lowest level since March 2003, although it had been as wide as 31.6 million CGT during the boom in August 2008.

The gap has been reduced all the way since the beginning of this year, from 5.51 million CGT to 4.49 million CGT between January and March and then to 3.93 million CGT in May. Under the circumstances, Japanese shipbuilders’ market share in terms of order backlog rose from 10% or so to 22% while that of South Korean shipbuilders fell from 30% to 24%. Experts point out that Japanese companies are likely to overtake South Korean companies in order backlog in the second half of this year if the current pace continues. 

When it comes to the monthly average delivery, South Korean shipbuilders are recording a volume of 1.1 million CGT this year whereas the figure is 500,000 CGT for Japanese companies. In the meantime, the Clarkson Index stood at 125 points last month, which is the lowest since February 2004. The average price of super-large container ships fell by more than US$2 million.