[Heavy Industry ON] China Dominates June Ship Orders... Korea Responds with High Value-Added Vessels

China's Market Share Soars to 85%
Gap Widens Just One Month After May's Close Race
Korea Leads in Average CGT per Ship
Order Backlog and Ship Prices Continue to Rise

China continued its overwhelming dominance in the global shipbuilding order market in June, recording an 85% market share. Unlike in May, when Korea achieved a similar level of orders as China, June saw orders once again concentrated in China. However, Korea maintained its competitiveness in high value-added vessels, surpassing China in the average order size per ship based on CGT (Compensated Gross Tonnage), the international standard that reflects not only the size of the ship but also construction complexity and man-hours required.

According to Clarkson Research, a UK-based shipbuilding and shipping market analysis agency, the total global shipbuilding orders in June 2026 amounted to 5.25 million CGT (200 ships). This represents a 9% decrease from the previous month (5.76 million CGT) but a 3% increase compared to the same month last year (5.09 million CGT).

By country, China secured 4.45 million CGT (171 ships), accounting for 85% of the total. Korea secured 500,000 CGT (13 ships), recording a 9% share. Japan accounted for 90,000 CGT (5 ships), or 2%, while other countries accounted for 210,000 CGT (11 ships).

The results for June present a stark contrast to the previous month. In May, total global orders were 4.52 million CGT (147 ships), down 45% from the previous month; however, Korea secured 1.99 million CGT (34 ships) for a 44% share. China accounted for 2.11 million CGT (97 ships), or 47%, resulting in a narrow gap between the two countries. But in June, China secured large-scale orders, raising its market share to 85%, while Korea's share dropped to 9%, shifting the order focus back to China.

However, Korea maintained its advantage in terms of the quality of orders. In June, the average order size per ship for Korea was 38,000 CGT, surpassing China’s 26,000 CGT. In May as well, Korea recorded an average of 59,000 CGT per ship, more than double China’s 22,000 CGT. Generally, a higher CGT per ship indicates a higher proportion of high value-added ships, such as LNG carriers. Although Korea lagged far behind China in the number of ships ordered, its superiority in CGT per ship demonstrates that its order strategy remains focused on high value-added vessels.

For the first half of the year (January to June), the cumulative global order volume reached 42.95 million CGT (1,481 ships), a 66% increase compared to the same period last year (25.9 million CGT, 1,101 ships).

By country, China secured 31 million CGT (1,131 ships), accounting for 72% of the total, while Korea recorded 7.97 million CGT (195 ships), or 19%. The year-on-year growth rate was 113% for China and 60% for Korea.

As of the end of June, the global order backlog stood at 206.59 million CGT, up 2.14 million CGT from the previous month. Of this, China held 134.03 million CGT (65%), and Korea 38.81 million CGT (19%).

Compared to the previous month, Korea's order backlog increased by 1.59 million CGT, while China's increased by 770,000 CGT. Compared with the same period last year, Korea’s backlog rose by 3.69 million CGT and China’s by 30.2 million CGT. At the end of May, the global order backlog stood at 200.2 million CGT, continuing the upward trend; at that time, China’s backlog increased by 3.17 million CGT from the previous month, while Korea’s increased by only 140,000 CGT.

Ship prices also continued their upward trend. At the end of June, the Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index stood at 185.15, up 0.14 points from the previous month (185.01). This is about 33% higher than in June 2021 (138.79).

By ship type, newbuilding prices were recorded at 248.5 million dollars for LNG carriers, 130.5 million dollars for very large crude carriers (VLCCs), and 261.5 million dollars for ultra-large container ships of 22,000 to 24,000 TEU class.

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