Japan falls further behind South Korea amid shipbuilding boom

Japan falls further behind South Korea amid shipbuilding boom Japan falls further behind South Korea amid shipbuilding boom

TOKYO/SEOUL — Export deals by Japanese shipbuilders slumped sharply last month despite a rarely seen spike in global orders, resulting in a wider gap with South Korea.

In April, Japan received new export ship orders totaling over 620,000 gross tonnes, the Japan Ship Exporters’ Association reported Thursday, marking a 32% plunge in volume from a year earlier.