New orders at Chinese shipyards rebound in first quarter

From January to March this year, China’s shipyards landed new shipbuilding orders of 7.42m dwt in capacity, representing a jump of 23.9% compared to the same period of last year, according to data from the ministry of industry and information technology.

The last time that Chinese shipyards saw a year-on-year percentage rise in new deals was back in the January-September 2014 period, when the new orders increased by 37.9% year-on-year.

China’s shipbuilding industry has been struggling with a severe recession due to the excessive shipbuilding capacity that is underutilised as the shipping market is awashed with too many vessels.

The prolonged shipbuilding downturn has led to declining new orders at Chinese shipyards, before the rebound in fresh deals is recorded for the first quarter this year.

In completed jobs, Chinese yards produced 8.35m dwt in vessel tonnage over the first three months, down 11.8% compared to the previous corresponding period, official data showed.

The orderbook backlog up until 31 March 2016 was recorded at 120.35m dwt, a drop of 17% year-on-year.