Imabari Shipbuilding has acquired a majority stake in JMU. This makes the company the fourth largest shipbuilding group in the world and might enable it to hold its own against international competition in future.
The Japanese shipbuilding group Imabari Shipbuilding is now the majority owner of the shipyard group Japan Marine United (JMU). The move is a reaction to competition from China and South Korea.
As Imabari confirmed, the previously announced acquisition of a majority stake in JMU has been completed. Japan’s largest shipbuilding company, founded in 1901, now holds 60% of the shares in the shipyard group, which will become a subsidiary of Imabari. The merger will create the world’s fourth largest shipbuilding group by tonnage in Japan. This significantly increases the country’s competitiveness compared to China and South Korea. Japan, which was still the leader in shipbuilding at the turn of the millennium, is planning to consolidate the recently ailing sector.
Imabari and JMU have already worked together several times in the past. The plans for a complete takeover were announced in June last year. Under Imabari’s leadership, rapid growth is to be facilitated, as CEO Higaki Yukito explained at a press conference. “Both companies agree that we need to compete globally in order to survive,” he said. “The acquisition will strengthen our competitiveness and enable quick business decisions.”
JMU President Hirose Takashi placed the transaction in a broader national context and expressed the hope that the enlarged group would contribute not only to competitiveness, but also to Japan’s economic security and employment potential.
As reported by Asian news portals, Japan is planning to double its national shipbuilding capacity to around 18 million GT. At the same time, construction costs are to be reduced by 10%. According to plans by the Ministry of Transport, led by Keiichi Ishii, the country’s fragmented industry is to be consolidated into large shipbuilding groups by the mid-2030s. In order to increase productivity, government investment in technologies such as AI and robotics is planned.
The background to this is increasing global competition, against which Japanese industry has recently struggled to hold its own. From the 1960s to the 1990s, the country was the global leader, with Japanese shipyards accounting for up to 50% of all new construction orders. At the turn of the millennium, South Korea overtook Japan and dominated in numerous segments, while China was already experiencing strong growth. Today, more than 70% of all new orders are built at Chinese shipyards, with South Korea and Japan following in second and third place.
