The global new shipbuilding market continued to cool down in September. Although Chinese shipyards maintained their leading advantage and remained at the top, the gap with South Korea is gradually narrowing. According to data released by Clarksons on October 5th, the global volume of new ship orders in September this year reached 123 vessels, equivalent to 3.5 million Compensated Gross Tonnage (CGT). Calculated by CGT, this represents a 44% decrease compared to the 6.29 million CGT in the same period last year, and a 3% decrease from the 3.6 million CGT in August this year.

Among them, Chinese shipyards secured 69 new ship orders totaling 1.42 million CGT, accounting for 40% of the global market share and ranking first. South Korean shipyards received 33 orders with a total of 1.35 million CGT, holding a 39% global market share and ranking second.

South Korean industry insiders stated that in terms of the number of orders received in September, South Korean shipyards obtained less than half of that of Chinese shipyards. Despite lagging far behind China in quantity, when considering the CGT per vessel, South Korea reached 41,000 CGT per ship—nearly twice that of China’s 21,000 CGT per ship. This indicates that South Korean shipyards have continued their selective order-taking strategy centered on high-value-added ships. As a result, the individual value of the new ships they secured is higher, allowing South Korea to be almost "neck-and-neck" with China in the September order rankings.

Global New Ship Orders from January to September 2024 

From January to September this year, the cumulative global volume of new ship orders stood at 1,185 vessels, totaling 32.64 million CGT. Calculated by CGT, this is a 47% decrease compared to the 2,560 vessels (61.43 million CGT) in the same period last year.

Chinese shipyards: Secured 725 orders with a total of 18.33 million CGT, a year-on-year decrease of 58%, accounting for 56% of the global market share and ranking first worldwide.

South Korean shipyards: Received 169 orders totaling 7.34 million CGT, a year-on-year decrease of 17%, holding a 22% market share and ranking second.

China-South Korea Order Comparison in the First 8 Months & South Korea’s Market Share Trend

Looking at the order intake of China’s and South Korea’s shipbuilding industries in the first 8 months of this year, China claimed the top spot in the order rankings on 6 occasions (February, April, May, June, July, and August), while South Korea only did so twice. However, since the second half of this year, the global market share of South Korea’s shipbuilding industry has increased month by month:

July: Chinese shipyards accounted for 75% of global new ship orders; South Korean shipyards held a 16% global market share, ranking second.

August: Chinese shipyards maintained a 75% market share; South Korea’s share rose by 7 percentage points to 23%, still ranking second.

South Korean Industry’s Views on Order Strategy and Market Outlook

South Korean industry insiders noted that although the total number of orders received by South Korea’s shipbuilding industry from January to September decreased by 17% year-on-year, the industry will continue to adhere to the "selective order-taking" principle centered on high-value-added ship types in the future. This is because securing higher-quality orders will help shipyards improve revenue and increase profits.

A relevant South Korean industry source commented: "In the past two years, due to South Korean shipyards sticking to the selective order-taking strategy, the gap in global market share with China’s shipbuilding industry has continued to widen. However, this year, South Korean shipyards have instead gained the conditions to offer more attractive delivery schedules to shipowners. Therefore, the market share of South Korea’s shipbuilding industry will return to a normal level. Most of the orders that South Korean shipyards secured during the period of low-price vicious competition have now been delivered, and the proportion of low-price orders in the backlog has become negligible.

Global Order Backlog as of End-September

As of the end of September this year, the global order backlog reached 165.99 million CGT, an increase of 70,000 CGT compared to the end of August.

China: The backlog of new ship orders reached 100.86 million CGT, an increase of 980,000 CGT year-on-year and 310,000 CGT month-on-month, maintaining the first position with a 61% market share.

South Korea: The backlog stood at 33.81 million CGT, a decrease of 420,000 CGT year-on-year and 440,000 CGT month-on-month, accounting for 20% of the market share and ranking second.