Orders at Japanese shipyards climbed in May 2015, compared with a low base in the same month last year.

Figures from the Japan Ship Exporters' Association (JSEA) showed that its member shipyards clinched 17 export orders of 1.47 million gt in May 2015, compared with 14 export orders totalling 454,140gt last May.

The higher gross tonnage was due to orders for bigger ships.

The orders in May comprised four container ships, three pure car and truck carriers, one very large crude carrier, and nine bulkers, which consisted of two Handysizes, six Handymaxes, and one Panamax.

Japanese shipyards specialize in building dry bulk carriers and orders have been slow due to the weak freight market.

The Baltic Dry Index's plunge to a historic low in February has been discouraging investment in bulkers, as China's coal demand slows and Indonesia shows no sign of resuming exports of raw ore. A deluge of bulker newbuilding deliveries in 2015 makes the market outlook bleak.

JSEA member shipyards exported 20 ships of 810,000gt last month, similar to the 19 ships of 801,431gt delivered in May 2014.

As of 31 May 2015, Japanese shipyards' outstanding orderbook stood at 630 ships of 28.86 million gt, compared with 655 ships of 27,731,450gt over the same period in 2014.