Decrease in global newbuilding orders continued in April as well, and newbuilding price kept its downtrend.
According to Clarkson Research Services' monthly report on May 15, there were orders for 51 vessels of a cumulative 1.8m dwt placed in April, down by over 30% month on month.
In April, an estimated total of $3.8bn was invested in new contracts, which brings the total estimated amount invested during the first four months of 2012 to $18.5bn, down by 45% on an annualized basis compared to 2011.
Only 277 new vessels of a cumulative 12m dwt, 5.2m cgt have been contracted so far this year, the lowest total on Clarkson records in the period. This compares with 622 newbuilding orders during the first four months in 2011.
During the same period, South Korean shipyards contracted 81 vessels of a cumulative 5.3m dwt or 2.5m cgt ($10.6bn), while Chinese shipbuilders booked orders for 87 vessels of a cumulative 3.9m dwt or 1.2m cgt ($2.3bn).
As of the end of April, Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index stood at 134.2p, down by 1.1p on previous month. Containership benchmark newbuilding prices drove overall newbuilding price to drop, having seen only seven orders placed in the first four months.
On the contrary, the benchmark price for MR product carriers rose by $0.5m to $34m month-on-month.
Meanwhile, in April, 140 vessels of a combined 11.3m dwt were delivered. The total number of deliveries during January-April period stood at 807 vessels of a cumulative 56.8m dwt, the largest ever amount of tonnage delivered in dwt terms, and up by 1.6% year-on-year.
During the first four months, a total of 428 bulkers, 112 offshore-related vessels ( including four drillships), 104 tankers, 67 boxships, etc., have been delivered.
Korea delivered 195 newbuildings of a combined 21.2m dwt, while China did 332 vessels of a cumulative 21.9m dwt (bulkers accounted for 78%).
The global orderbook stood at 5,553 vessels of a combined of 327.6m dwt at the end of April.
Bulkers accounted for 57% of total orderbook in deadweight terms. Panamax bulker backlog has the largest proportion on existing fleet, 70% in terms of dwt, down from 93% at the end of last year. Only the ratio of MR tanker experienced an increase from 14% to 14.9%.