The number of dry bulk newbuilding orders placed in January 2015 was down 78% on the year, the latest estimates by Greek sale-and-purchase broker Golden Destiny show.

This past January saw 17 new bulk carrier orders placed at shipyards across the globe, compared with 76 orders in January 2014, the broker said in a report earlier this week.

Month-on-month the number of dry bulk carriers ordered was down 32% from 25 in December 2014.

In terms of size, 13 out of the 17 bulk carriers ordered in January 2015 were Handysize vessels and 4 were Capesize.

In December 2014, 10 out of the 24 ships ordered were Handysize, one was a Supramax, three were Ultramax, six were Kamsarmax and four were Capesize.

In January 2014, the majority of the 76 vessels ordered were Ultramax, according to Golden Destiny.

While placing two orders for LNG tankers and six for container ships, Greek shipowners placed no orders for bulk carriers this past January, compared with 14 a year earlier.

Chinese owners also ordered no bulk carriers, having ordered 12 in January 2014. Instead, they placed a single order for a tanker, two LNG carriers, three general cargo ships and three special projects units.

China remained the leading dry bulk shipbuilder, with 10 new bulk carriers ordered in Chinese yards, although this was down 32% from December and down 78% from January last year.

Seven orders were placed in Japanese yards in January, the same as in December. As in December, no orders were placed in South Korean yards, Golden Destiny’s data showed.