Japan Ship Orders Sink 37 Percent

japanese export ship orders sank for the 13th consecutive month in October on a year-on-year basis, tumbling 37.3 percent to 358,300 gross tons, according to figures released by the Japan Ship Exporters' Association on Tuesday. But the year-on-year pace of decline in October more than halved from 75.5 percent in September and was the slowest since the nation's export ship orders suddenly started to plunge in October last year due to the deep global economic downturn triggered by the financial crisis that erupted in the United States a month earlier.
In October, Japanese shipbuilders received orders for five export ships -- three bulk carriers totaling 92,100 gross tons, one general cargo vessel of 105,900 gross tons and one oil tanker of 160,300 gross tons. The five ships total 141,140 compensated gross tons.
Since October last year, ship orders have declined at least 63 percent each month, with the steepest drop in November last year, when orders fell off 91 percent from the prior year.
Japan is one of the world's top shipbuilding nations along with South Korea and China.