Ship orders plummet on gloomy global market

Jiangsu, the dominant province in Chinese ship manufacturing, received 61.7 percent fewer orders for ships in the first five months than in the same period of 2011, due to a slump in the global shipping market, new official figures have indicated.

Jiangsu produced 183 ships with a deadweight capacity of 7.62 million tons between the start of January and the end of May, 10 percent fewer than last year, according to data released on Monday by the provincial commission of economy and information technology.

It received only 72 ship-building orders with a deadweight capacity of 1.64 million tons in the first five months, 61.7 percent lower than last year.

The sluggish world market and excess of transportation capacity contributed to the drop in orders, according to the commission.

Jiangsu plans to account for 35 percent of the Chinese market and 15 percent of the global market in terms of ship building by 2015.