SHANGHAI, Nov. 2 (SMM) – China’s shipbuilding industry is at present facing a dim outlook due to slipping world economies and sluggish shipping activities.

According to data from China Ship Industry Association, finished ship building orders rose 18.3% YoY to 51.01 million DWT during the first nine months of 2011, while new orders have declined 42.8% on a yearly basis to 29.02 million DWT. Unfinished orders, which were 168.86 million DWT, dropped 13.8% YoY as of the end of September.

Orders received in September were 940,000 DWT, the least since June 2009. Further more, around 30% of Chinese shipbuilders have no incoming orders by the end of the month. The lack of orders may force some medium to small sized shipbuilders to halt their production or turn to production of other products during the first half of 2012.

A latest Steelease survey shows that October Purchasing Manager Index of the shipbuilding industry, which came out at 48.89%, stayed below the 50% dividing line for a third consecutive month. Its production index and new order index for October both dropped significantly from the previous month, which were 45.50% and 42.83% respectively. The accumulated order index was 36.11% and has stayed below 50% for five successive months.

Steelease expects growth of China’s shipbuilding industry to slip further during following two months and new ship orders to stay limited. Steel demand of the industry will also decline as a result.