Continuing last year's lead, China's shipbuilding industry will once again beat South Korea and Japan with a market share of more than 60% in the global newbuilding market in the first half of 2024. In just over 20 years, China's shipbuilding industry has transformed from a new player with a market share of less than 10% to a globally recognized shipbuilding power and a shipbuilding power, and has become an important force in the world's shipbuilding industry.
In the first half of the year, 615 ships received orders of 48.2 billion US dollars, and Chinese shipbuilders undertook more than 60% of the world's orders
According to data released by Clarkson on July 4, in June this year, the global new ship order volume was 100 ships and 2.43 million revised gross tons (CGT), with a total value of 7.6 billion US dollars. Among them, China undertook 74 new ship orders with 1.9 million CGT and US$5.7 billion, accounting for 78.2% of the total global orders in terms of CGT and 75% of the world's total orders in terms of value; South Korea undertook 8 new ship orders of 220,000 CGT and 600 million US dollars, accounting for 9.1% of the total global orders in terms of CGT, 7.9% of the world's total orders in terms of value, both of which did not exceed 10%; Japan has received orders for 3 new ships of 50,000 CGT and 100 million US dollars.
In the second quarter of this year, the global new ship order volume was 405 ships, 11.07 million CGT, and 43.5 billion US dollars. Among them, China undertook 309 new ship orders with 8.7 million CGT and 31.8 billion US dollars, accounting for 78.6% of the total global orders in terms of CGT and 73.1% of the world's total orders in terms of value; South Korea undertook 34 new ship orders of 1.29 million CGT and US$5.8 billion, accounting for 11.7% of the total global orders in terms of CGT and 13.3% of the world's total orders in terms of value. Japan has received orders for 20 new ships, 250,000 CGTs, and $700 million, and its share of the global market is only about 1% in terms of value.
In the first half of this year, the global new ship order turnover was 903 ships, 24.01 million CGT, and 80.3 billion US dollars. Among them, China has undertaken 615 new ship orders with 15.4 million CGT and 48.2 billion US dollars, with a global market share of more than 60% in terms of CGT and order value. South Korea undertook 132 new ship orders with 5.94 million CGT and US$19.7 billion, with a global market share of 24.7% in terms of CGT, and 24.5% in terms of order value, both of which were less than 25%; Japan has undertaken 49 new ship orders of 710,000 CGT and 1.9 billion US dollars, with a market share of less than 3% in terms of both order value and CGT.
In this regard, the South Korean industry analysis believes that in the first half of this year, the number of orders received by the South Korean shipbuilding industry rose first and then declined. In the first quarter of this year, due to the strong demand for LNG carriers and liquid ammonia carriers, the Korean shipbuilding industry had a good start in undertaking orders, but after entering the second quarter, South Korea's market share also fell sharply as the order of these ship types slowed down. Compared with the first quarter, orders in the second quarter shrank sharply because QatarEnergy's LNG carrier "100 ships plan" and orders for liquid ammonia carriers and product tankers were concentrated at the beginning of the year.
China's global shipbuilding market share is still further expanding, especially in the second quarter, the market share of orders has approached 80%, completely dominating the global shipbuilding market. Some commentators say that South Korea's shipbuilding industry has almost withdrawn from the medium-sized ship market due to the harsh structural adjustment in the past few years, while China's shipbuilding industry has been accumulating construction experience while striving to improve production efficiency during the same period, and the quality of ship construction is gradually improving.
According to the Korean industry, the world's major shipyards have already met the workload for more than three years in hand, and the three major Korean shipbuilders HD Korea Shipbuilding Marine, Hanwha Marine, and Samsung Heavy Industries have adopted a selective order receiving strategy and are committed to maintaining the "Builder's Market".
On the contrary, 66% of the $48.2 billion order amount received by China's shipbuilding industry in the first half of the year was completed in the second quarter, which accelerated the pace of order taking. According to statistics, in the first half of last year, the global market share of China's shipbuilding industry was 52%, which increased to 57% in the second half of last year and further increased to 60% in the first half of this year.
Under the strong squeeze of China's shipbuilding industry, not only South Korea's global market share has been compressed to about 25%, but Japan, which was able to maintain a global market share of about 10% last year, has been compressed to less than 3%, and has gradually lost its foothold.
"Medium-sized ships account for the majority of the global market, but since 2010, South Korea has ceded the medium-sized ship market to China due to the long-term downturn in the shipping market and the bankruptcy and closure of key medium-sized shipyards," a Korean industry source said. During the period when the Korean shipbuilding industry was experiencing the pain of structural adjustment, Chinese shipbuilders continued to improve production efficiency and accumulated construction experience with the support of the government, and the quality of ship construction continued to improve. ”
South Korean industry said that in the first half of this year, South Korea's shipbuilding industry accounted for only 25% of the global market accounted for only barely maintained at the level of 25%, is standing at a dangerous crossroads, which sends a strong warning signal, the government should further increase policy support for the shipbuilding industry, to maintain the position of South Korea's shipbuilding industry "global master".
Only the liquefied gas carrier market remains, and China's shipbuilding industry leads the ship type market in all aspects
In a recent report, Clarkson pointed out that since 2020, China's shipbuilding industry has accelerated its rise, winning 53% of the world's newbuilding orders (in CGT) during this period. At the beginning of the 21st century, China is still an emerging country in the global shipbuilding industry, with a market share of only 8%. In just over 20 years, China's shipbuilding industry has developed into a global shipbuilding leader.
According to the report, China's shipbuilding industry reflects a number of factors, including a competitive cost base and policies aimed at promoting the development of the shipbuilding industry, and as the shipbuilding industry matures, Chinese shipbuilders have gained more and more market share in the higher-value ship type segment.
China's shipbuilding industry first achieved a leading position in the field of bulk carrier construction, and has been responsible for most of the world's bulk carrier orders since 2006 (except 2015). Since 2020, Chinese shipbuilders have received about 68% of the world's bulk carrier orders, a further increase from 56% in the 2010s. Since 2020, bulk carriers have accounted for 28% of China's new ship orders in CGT terms, more than any other single ship type, but have decreased from 45% between 2000 and 2020.
At the same time, China's shipbuilding industry continues to expand its market share in the field of complex ship types, with the fastest progress being in the container ship sector, which has risen from 19% in the 2000s to 38% in the 2010s, and has increased its market share to 59% since 2020. In the field of oil tankers, China's shipbuilding industry has increased its market share to 53% since 2020, far exceeding the 24% in the 2000s and 31% in the 2010s. And in the field of car carriers, which has become a hot spot in the market in recent years, China's shipbuilding industry is also far ahead, winning 84% of orders since 2020, up from 27% in the 2010s.
Among the major merchant ship types, China's shipbuilding industry is currently only in the field of liquefied gas carriers, and South Korea is in second place. However, China's shipbuilding industry has also made great progress in this field of ship types, with its market share rising from 4% in the 2000s and 12% in the 2010s to 26% since the beginning of 2020, and since 2024, Chinese shipbuilders have undertaken 38% of the world's liquefied gas carrier orders, reducing the market share of South Korean shipbuilders to 61%.
Especially in the large-scale LNG carrier market, which is known as the "crown jewel" of the shipbuilding industry, five shipyards in China have received orders for large-scale LNG carriers, among which Dalian Shipbuilding, Jiangnan Shipbuilding, China Merchants Industry, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding are all undertaking 170,000 cubic meter LNG ship orders for the first time in 2022, which has changed the situation that a Chinese shipyard in Hudong-Zhonghua alone against the three major shipbuilding companies in South Korea has changed in one fell swoop.
According to Clarkson's data, so far this year, there have been 64 orders for new LNG ships of 170,000 cubic meters and above, of which 20 Chinese shipbuilders have received orders of 5.228 million cubic meters, accounting for about 41% of the market. Hudong-Zhonghua has also won a total of 18 orders for the world's largest QC-Max LNG carriers of 271,000 cubic meters under Qatar's "100 Ships Plan".
In addition, seizing the business opportunities brought about by the fuel transition in the shipping industry, China's shipbuilding industry has also gained an advantage in the green ship market. Since 2020, Chinese shipbuilders have won about 54% of the world's alternative fuel newbuilding orders (excluding LNG carriers), leading the way in both methanol-powered and LNG-powered ship construction. At the same time, Chinese shipbuilders have repeatedly taken the lead in orders for ammonia-fueled ships, and have successively undertaken the world's first ammonia-fueled ship orders in the fields of bulk carriers, container ships and oil tankers.