Japan: New ship orders climb in Feb'23

Orders for new ships won by Japanese shipbuilders in February reached 783,500 gross tons (GT) in 19 vessels, statistics released Tuesday by Japan Ship Exporters' Association (JSEA) showed. In terms of tonnage, last month's result was 89% higher than in February 2022 but lower by 31% from January, the data showed.

"February orders were down on month, but this was expected due to the high pace of orders in December and January," a JSEA official remarked. "In fact, I had expected more of a decline, so I'm kind of relieved," he added.

Last December saw a phenomenal jump in year-end orders, with the total tonnage secured by Japanese builders reaching 1.48 million GT in 42 vessels, a 2.3-fold increase from the November total, as Mysteel Global reported, while January orders were still healthy at 1.14 million GT in 29 ships.

The February result took total orders for the current fiscal year ending March 31 to 10.76 million GT in 257 ships, the association's statistics showed. "We've already passed the 10 million GT-mark for the current fiscal year, but though that's a fairly high level, we won't pass the recent record high of 14.3 million GT set in fiscal 2021," the official admitted.

Meanwhile, actual deliveries last month were unspectacular, equalling 637,241 GT in just 14 vessels, down by 6.2% from February 2022 deliveries.

Still, the scarcity of ships completed last month - on top of a reasonably good month for orders - means that as of end-February, the order backlog among builders was 22.05 million GT in 499 vessels, sufficient to keep Japanese yards busy for 2.2-2.4 years. "We can be sure that shipbuilders will continue at a high level of operation and will consume steel actively," the official said.

On the most recent Japan Iron & Steel Federation statistics, orders for carbon steel items for the shipbuilding and marine equipment sector placed in December totalled 273,000 tonnes, up by 23% from November, as reported. The JISF will announce January orders on March 16.

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the industry, Japanese shipping firm NYK Line has sold of its first end-of-life vessel direct to a shipbreaking firm in Bangladesh, PHP Ship Breaking and Recycling Industries Ltd.

NYK announced on March 13 that it had certified that PHP's Ship Recycling Facility in Chattogram, Bangladesh, had met NYK's standards for ship-recycling measures pertaining to the environment, safety, occupational health, and respect for human rights - the first yard in Bangladesh to be certified by NYK.

Just days earlier on March 9, a general cargo vessel, the 9,400-deadweight ton MV Kamo, had arrived at Chattogram for recycling under close supervision of the NYK team. Previously owned by NYK Bulk & Projects, the Kamo was built in 1998 by the then-Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, now Yokohama-headquartered Mitsubishi Shipbuilding.

Japanese shipbuilders' backlog until FY'26 (March 2027)

Source: JSEA

Written by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com

Edited by Zhenqi Yang, yangzhenqi@mysteel.com

This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.