Orders continue to decline! Japan's shipbuilding market share falls below 10%

Japanese shipbuilders' order intake continued to decline in June, falling below the same period last year for three consecutive months.

Recently, the Japan Ship Exporters' Association (JSEA) released the latest data on Japanese shipbuilders' order intake for June 2025. In June 2025, Japanese shipbuilders received orders for a total of 23 vessels with 1,355,450 GT, a decrease of 36.9% compared to 54 vessels and 2,148,210 GT in the same period of 2024.

By ship type, the 23 new ship orders received by Japanese shipbuilders in June this year include 2 car carriers totaling 149,200 GT, 18 bulk carriers (9 handysize, 4 supramax, and 5 Capesize) totaling 863,150 GT, and 3 tankers (2 VLCCs and 1 LPG/ammonia carrier) totaling 333,100 GT.

Since the second quarter, Japanese shipbuilders' monthly order intake has shown a year-on-year downward trend. From April to June, Japanese shipbuilders received a total of 55 vessels with 2,867,000 GT, a year-on-year decrease of 39.8%. Specifically, new ship orders received by Japanese shipbuilders in the second quarter included 4 cargo ships with 435,200 GT, 45 bulk carriers with 3,033,550 GT, and 6 tankers with 398,250 GT.

In the first half of this year, Japanese shipbuilders received a total of 94 vessels with 5,023,200 GT, a year-on-year decrease of 68.1%. By ship type, this includes 9 cargo ships with 706,880 GT, higher than 9 vessels and 139,990 GT in the same period last year; 76 bulk carriers with 3,577,590 GT, lower than 140 vessels and 6,204,230 GT in the same period last year; 8 tankers with 738,250 GT, lower than 22 vessels and 1,030,290 GT in the same period last year; and 1 other vessel with 480 GT.

Japanese media pointed out that although the global shipbuilding market demand remains strong, Japanese shipyards are unable to accept more orders due to a lack of sufficient docks. Currently, the delivery docks of major Japanese shipyards are fully booked for the next few years, and in the previous few years, Japanese shipbuilders have been continuously reducing production capacity and even withdrawing from the market. The Japanese shipbuilding industry is concerned about the continued decline in its future construction volume share.

According to Clarkson's statistics, global new ship orders in the first half of this year totaled 647 vessels with 46.8 million DWT and 19.4 million CGT, a year-on-year decrease of 48% in CGT, but only a 7% decrease compared to the average level of the past 10 years. Globally, in the face of strong competition from Chinese and South Korean shipbuilders, Japanese shipbuilders' order intake accounted for less than 10% of the market share in the first half of the year.

As of the end of June this year, Japanese shipbuilders had a total backlog of 620 vessels with 29.99 million GT, a continued increase from 29.85 million GT at the end of May. Currently, Japanese shipbuilders' order backlog remains high, and based on the completion volume in 2024, the existing order backlog is equivalent to about 3.5 years of construction.