While global new ship orders surged in 2024, Japan’s shipbuilding industry’s order volume continued to decline.
Recently, the Japan Ship Exporters Association (JSEA) released the latest data on order intake of Japanese shipbuilders in December 2024 and for the whole year. In December 2024, Japanese shipbuilders received orders totaling 19 ships of 913,400 GT, a decrease of 27.5% compared with 32 ships of 1,259,220 GT in the same period of 2023, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-on-year decline.
In terms of ship type, the 19 newbuilding orders received by Japanese shipbuilders in December last year included 14 bulk carriers (2 Handysize, 6 Handysize, 3 Super-Panamax, and 3 Good Hope) totaling 714,800 GT, and 5 liquid cargo carriers (3 LPG/Liquid Ammonia Carriers, and 2 Chemical Oil Tankers) totaling 198,600 GT.
In 2024, Japanese shipbuilders received orders for 251 ships totaling 11,160,206 GT, a year-on-year decrease of 6.7%. The ordered ships include 24 cargo ships totaling 1,121,490 GT, 196 bulk carriers totaling 8,755,730 GT and 31 liquid cargo ships totaling 1,282,986 GT.
Since February 2024, the monthly order volume of Japanese shipbuilders has maintained a year-on-year growth trend until it began to decline for four consecutive months in September of the same year. The decline in October and November both exceeded 70%. In particular, the monthly order volume in November was only 6 ships with 236,096 GT, setting a new low for monthly orders in the year.
ORIGINAL SOURCE iMARINE
