After the order volume was surpassed by China in April, South Korean shipping companies again surpassed China in order volume in May, regaining the number one position in the world. In the new shipbuilding market, Chinese and Korean shipbuilding companies are engaged in a fierce tug-of-war for the world's first place in annual orders.
According to Clarkson Research, global new ship orders in May were 60 ships of 1.27 million CGT, of which Chinese shipyards received orders of 31 ships of 710,000 CGT (accounting for 56%), and South Korea and Japan received orders respectively. 24 ships with 440,000 CGT and 5 ships with 110,000 CGT.
Although the number of orders received by Chinese shipping companies is leading, the Korean industry pointed out that this statistics does not reflect the number of orders received by Korean shipping companies at the end of May. If according to the statistics of Clarkson’s various shipyards’ hand-held orders, plus the 16 980,000 CGT new ship orders received by Korean shipping companies at the end of May, the global new ship orders totaled 89 ships in May this year. 2.42 million CGT, of which the Korean shipping companies received orders for 40 ships of 1.42 million CGT, accounting for 59% of the global market share, surpassing China to rank first. It is reported that Clarkson’s various shipyards hold order data earlier than comprehensive statistics to reflect order performance.
In contrast, Chinese shipping companies received 37 orders of 880,000 CGT in May, accounting for 36% of the market share, ranking second. Japanese shipping companies received 5 orders of 110,000 CGT, ranking third.
South Korean shipping companies have consistently led China in the number of orders received in a single month since July last year, winning the championship for 9 consecutive months. Until April, Chinese shipping companies finally succeeded in overtaking, accepting more than half of the world's new ship orders that month.
In the first five months of this year, global new ship orders totaled 19.07 million CGT, a year-on-year increase of 179%. Among them, the number of orders received by Chinese shipping companies totaled 321 ships with approximately 8.92 million CGT, accounting for 47% of the global market share, slightly higher than South Korea’s 212 ships with 8.32 million CGT (44%).
Korean media pointed out that the number of orders received by Korean shipping companies in the first five months has increased by nearly seven times compared with the 1.09 million CGT in the same period last year, which is the highest level in 13 years since the same period in 2008 (9.67 million CGT).
In terms of ship types, orders for container ships above 12,000 TEU, large liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships above 140,000 cubic meters, and very large tankers (VLCC) have all increased, but orders for S-Max class tankers have decreased.
It is worth mentioning that this year, Korean shipping companies have achieved a lot in the field of dual-fuel ships. Of the 67 LNG-powered ship orders in the world, 31 of them were received by Korean shipping companies, accounting for 46%; among the 48 LPG-powered ship orders, there were 36 ships were built by South Korea, accounting for 75%.
As of the end of May, global hand-held orders were 77.38 million CGT, a decrease of 710,000 CGT (1%) from the end of April. Among them, Chinese shipbuilding companies continue to rank first in the world with a total of 29.85 million CGT, accounting for 39%; followed by Korean shipping companies, with 24.4 million CGT orders, accounting for 32%; third is Japanese shipping companies, holding The order volume was 8.32 million CGT, accounting for 11%.
While orders for new ships have increased significantly, shipbuilding costs have also increased significantly. In May, the Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index reached 136.1 points, showing an upward trend for 6 consecutive months, reaching the highest record in 6 years and 5 months since 137.8 points in December 2014.
