Japan’s Mar new ship orders soar 127% on year

Japan’s new vessel orders rose on year for the third month by March, up 127.4% to about 1.51 million gross tonnes or 28 vessels, according to latest release by the Japan Ship Exporters’ Association (JSEA) on April 8, though the prospect of steel consumption growth is still uncertain with low backlogs, a JSEA official pointed out.

Orders in March was 55.2% higher on month, which was hardly surprising, as towards the end of the fiscal year (April-March), the Japanese shipbuilders will try to ink as many deals as possible, he said, admitting, though, that “we have noted that orders for this March were exceptionally higher, which may have to