Ship Orders Increase After 4 Months... Korea-China Duel for Top Shipbuilding Contracts Remains Tight

Global Orders in January Reach 3.07 Million CGT, Up 72% MoM
Korean Order Share 45%... 1st Place China at 48%

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Last month, global ship orders increased for the first time in four months, with South Korea and China evenly splitting the order share. South Korea secured a 45% share, trailing the top-ranked China by 3 percentage points (p).

According to Clarkson Research, a UK-based shipbuilding and shipping market analysis firm, global ship orders last month reached 3.07 million CGT (Compensated Gross Tonnage), a 72% increase from the previous month. Since recording 4.67 million CGT in September last year, global ship orders had declined to 2.59 million CGT in October, 2.03 million CGT in November, and 1.78 million CGT in December, before turning upward after four months.

By ship type, South Korea's main types?large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers over 140,000 cubic meters and large container ships over 12,000 TEU (1 TEU = one 6-meter container)?accounted for 67% of the total orders.

By country, China led with 1.47 million CGT orders, holding a 48% share, closely followed by South Korea with 1.38 million CGT (45%). Japan ranked third with 90,000 CGT (3%). While South Korea and China's ship orders increased by 160% and 51% respectively compared to the previous month, Japan's orders decreased by 18% during the same period, solidifying the dominant position of the two Asian powers.

Last month, the Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index rose by 0.08 points to 154.26, marking a 14-month consecutive increase.

Ship prices mostly rose by type. Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) increased from $112 million to $114 million, A-max tankers from $59 million to $60 million, 13,000?14,000 TEU container ships from $148 million to $148.5 million, and 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers from $210 million to $214 million. All ship types except S-max tankers saw price increases.

At the end of last month, the global order backlog stood at 91.28 million CGT, up 110,000 CGT from the previous month. By country, only South Korea's backlog increased by 690,000 CGT during the same period, while China and Japan's backlogs decreased by 40,000 CGT and 240,000 CGT respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.