rare! 50% down payment for an order? Japanese shipping companies launch "first-heavy" payment model

The down payment can reach up to 50%, and Japanese shipping companies have seized the opportunity of the sharp depreciation of the yen to introduce "top heavy" payment terms to shipowners who urgently need to order bulk carriers.

Generally speaking, new shipbuilding contracts signed by Japanese shipbuilding companies often adopt tail-heavy payment terms, which are paid in four installments, 10% when the contract is signed, 10% when the construction is started, 10% when the ship is launched, and the remaining 70% Paid upon completion. However, in a bulk carrier construction contract signed between a Japanese shipyard and a ship owner recently, the down payment was as high as 50% of the contract price.

According to Japanese media reports, with the continuous depreciation of the yen this year, some small and medium-sized bulk carrier construction contracts of Japanese shipping companies have increased the down payment ratio to 20-30% since the autumn, but orders with a 50% down payment are for Japan unprecedented in the shipbuilding industry.

Relevant people from Japanese shipyards pointed out that the payment ratio of the new ship order that surfaced this time reached 50% when signing the contract. Chance."

For the shipyard, under the current depreciation of the yen, the advantage of being able to determine 50% of the income of the ship price at the time of signing the contract is "extremely significant". The shipyard has enjoyed the advantage of the depreciation of the yen, and there is also a discounted ship price Space.

It is reported that most of the bulk carriers ordered in Japanese shipyards with 30%-50% down payment are overseas ship owners and operators who have accumulated a lot of cash during the boom in the bulk shipping market in the first half of this year, and also have a large fleet , a large Japanese shipowner with good financial status. However, at present, the orders for new ships with a down payment of more than 30% received by Japanese shipyards are limited to some small and medium-sized bulk carriers.

According to industry analysts, for shipowners, as the US dollar interest rate rises, if they choose deposits instead of investing in shipbuilding at this time, their cash reserves will inevitably expand. Many shipowners invest 50% of the ship price for ships completed in three years. Be wary of cash.

On the other hand, the gap between high newbuilding prices and soft long-term charter rates is wider than ever. In fact, bulk carrier inquiries in the newbuilding market have stagnated, which is also a factor in the low number of contracts signed.

On November 15, the Japan Ship Exporters Association released the latest order data for Japanese shipping companies in October 2022. Japanese shipping companies received 10 ships of 217,470 GT, a year-on-year decrease of 80.5%, creating a new low in the past six years.

Data show that the new ship orders received by Japanese shipping companies in October include 3 general cargo ships (29,700 GT) and 7 bulk carriers (187,500 GT), of which the bulk carriers are 6 Handysize and 1 Handysize.

Up to now, in the first 10 months, Japanese shipping companies have received a total of 224 orders of 9,643,020 GT, a year-on-year decrease of 27.6%. Classification by ship type includes 54 cargo ships (3,344,310 GT), 162 bulk carriers (5,976,310 GT), 7 oil tankers (320,300 GT) and 1 other ship (2,100 GT).