Chinese shipbuilders see steep fall in new orders

China’s shipbuilding industry saw a sharp decline in new orders in September as an economic slowdown left the global shipping market nearly stagnant, state media reported, quoting an announcement from the National Development and Reform Commission on Tuesday. New shipbuilding orders were 940,000 deadweight metric tons in September, the lowest monthly figure since June 2009, with about 30% of the country’s 1,526 shipbuilding companies receiving no new orders in the month, said the NDRC, China’s top economic planner. Some of China’s small and medium shipbuilding enterprises have shuttered production as a result. Business is expected to continue to slow moderately in the fourth quarter, the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry projected.