Japan's shipbuilders have dismal H1

Japan's major shipbuilders received orders for 19 vessels for export last month, equivalent to 687,470 gross tons (GT), double the seven vessels equivalent to just 337,800 GT that the Japanese yards won in September last year, statistics released by the Japan Ship Exporters' Association (JSEA) on October 15 show. The total was also double the August result of 371,580 GT in 12 vessels, the data show.

Yet despite the builders' improved performance last month, the result took the total for the first half of Japan's fiscal year spanning April-September to just 4.32 million GT, down 35.7% from the same period last year, while the number of vessels totaled 93, a decrease of 40% from the