Despite the global order volume being cut in half, Chinese shipyards still demonstrated strong competitiveness last month (May) and maintained first place.
According to data released by Clarksons on June 5, the global new ship orders in May this year were 1.66 million compensated gross tonnage(CGT, 71 ships), which was a 55% decrease from the same period last year (3.66 million CGT) and a 64% decrease from the previous month (4.6 million CGT) based on the gross tonnage.
By country, Chinese shipbuilders received new orders for 640,000 CGT (42 ships), down 59% from the same period last year (6.15 million CGT, 218 ships), with a market share of 39%, ranking first in the world; Korean shipbuilders received new orders for 250,000 CGT (8 ships), down 31% from the same period last year (900,000 CGT, 24 ships), with a market share of 15%.
Data shows that the total global new ship orders from January to May this year were 15.92 million CGT (515 ships), a 45% decrease from the same period last year (1,242 ships, 29.18 million CGT). During this period, China’s shipbuilding enterprises to undertake orders for 7.86 million CGT (274 ships), market share of 49%, down 58% from the same period last year, ranked first; South Korean shipbuilding enterprises to undertake orders for 3.81 million CGT (95 ships), market share rate of 24%, down 35% from the same period last year, ranked second.
Taking the end of May as the benchmark, the global backlog of new ship orders amounted to 163.44 million CGT, an increase of 1.23 million CGT; by country, the backlog of Chinese shipbuilders amounted to 96.39 million CGT, an increase of 21.2 million CGT compared with the same period of last year, an increase of 0.65 million CGT compared with the same period of last year, with a market share of 59%, ranking the first in the market; South Korean shipbuilders’ backlog of orders amounted to 36.30 million CGT, a decrease of 3.09 million CGT compared with the same period of last year, an increase of 0.42 million CGT compared with the same period of last year, with a market share of 22%, ranking the second. the same period last year by 3.09 million CGT, an increase of 0.42 million CGT, market share of 22%, ranking second.
Newbuilding prices remained relatively stable. At the end of May, the Clarksons Newbuilding Price Index stood at 186.69, up 0.14% from the same period last year (186.42), down 0.42 points from a year earlier, and up 47% from April 2020 (127.32).
In terms of ship types, the newbuilding price of 174,000 cubic meters class large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers was US$255 million, unchanged from last month; the newbuilding price of very large crude carriers (VLCCs) was US$125 million, unchanged from last month; and the newbuilding price of ultra-large containerships (22,000TEU-24,000TEU) was US$273.5 million, unchanged from last month.