Japanese firm Kawasaki Heavy Industries has announced it will consider shuttering its shipbuilding business, reported Reuters.
Citing worsening profitability, driven in part by falling new ship orders as a result of the current oversupply problems in the shipping industry, Kawasaki said it could pull out of shipbuilding altogether. The strength of the yen against the dollar has doubled the impact on the company’s bottom line.
When making the announcement on September 30, 2016, Kawasaki also revised its profit outlook for the remainder of the business year ending in March, 2017. The final decision on whether to exit the shipbuilding business will be taken by the end of March.
Kawasaki has been building ships since 1878 and is not alone in its struggles; several other shipbuilders have struggled for orders in 2016.
