Global newbuilding orders turned out to have already surpassed annual orders recorded a year ago (55m dwt) by 82% with 100m dwt (35m cgt, 1,566 units) inked till October this year. Moreover, it is expected that new orders of this year would increase by 122% year-on-year.

According to Clarkson Research, bulker order recorded 55m dwt (624 vessels) in this year to October with a 41% year-on-year rise, of which large bulkers, such as Capesize (180,000 dwt), Newcastlemax (205,000 dwt) and so on, showed a notable growth.

As commercial ship orders rose greatly in this year, Clarkson newbuilding index has been showing an uptrend over the last six months. The index recorded 130.9p as of the end of October, representing the highest level since June 2012 and the largest increase in recent months with a 1.4p month-on-month gap.

Particularly, during October, standard newbuilding price of Capesize bulker showed the largest growth to $52.50m (as of the end of October), up from $50m recorded in late September. The Capesize vessel has been placed for 151 units in the year to October, displaying a strong trend, and its standard newbuilding price improved by 14%, compared to early this year.

Driven by active order performance of this year, large containership sector also showed increased standard newbuilding prices as of the end of October: 8,800 teu boxship was valued at $84.50m while 13,000 teu, at $112m, which are increases of 11% and 5%, respectively, from early this year.

However, this is still a 30% lowered level compared to a historic high recorded in 2008.