China's new shipbuilding orders fall 37.9% on year in Jan-Aug

SHANGHAI, Sep 20 (SMM) – Completed newbuild tonnage across Chinese shipyards maintained growth on a yearly basis in January-August, but order backlog and new orders received extended declines from a year ago. 

Data form China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry showed that, in the first eight months of this year, Chinese shipyards finished newbuild tonnage of 25.94 million deadweight tons (DWT), up 6.7% from the same period a year ago; new shipbuilding orders obtained by them shrank 37.9% year on year to stand at 15.72 million DWT. 

By the end of August, order backlog held by those shipbuilders decreased by 10.4% from a year ago and by 11.4% from the end of 2018, to 79.09 million DWT. 

In the first seven months of this year, Chinese shipbuilders received new orders totaling 14.7 million DWT, down 38.9% from the same period last year