From January to April this year, Chinese shipyards sealed 6.65m dwt in tonnage terms for newbuildings, representing a marked 51.8% year-on-year drop, Cansi figures showed.
The latest decline extended from the first quarter figures where newbuilding orders dipped by 25.4% year-on-year to 5.54m dwt.
The Chinese shipbuilders’ order backlog up until 31 March 2017 was registered at 86.62m dwt, a decrease of 30.3% year-on-year and down 13% compared to end-2016.
In completed newbuild tonnage, the Chinese yards built a total of 18.56m dwt in vessel capacity over the first four months, a hike of 71.9% compared to the same period of 2016.
Cansi statistics also showed that over the four-month period the country’s 53 leading shipbuildings received newbuilding orders of 5.53m dwt in capacity terms, a decrease of 58.4% compared to the previous corresponding period.
The 53 leading yards completed vessel tonnage of 15.84m dwt, up 57.1%, and sat on an order backlog of 81m dwt, down 32%.
The association further monitors 80 main shipyards showing that their combined completed vessel value to be at RMB115bn ($16.7bn), a fall of 8.9% year-on-year.
Among the total value, shipbuilding accounted for RMB50bn, equipment amounted to RMB6.7bn and ship repairs took up RMB3.6bn.
The 80 main shipbuilders generated a total revenue of RMB83.2bn in the first four months, a slip of 10% year-on-year while total profit plunged 45% to RMB600m.
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