Korea's Ship Orders Surge 127% in September... China Sees 9% Decrease

Korea Secures 1.27 Million CGT, Achieving 21% Market Share

Cumulative Orders from January to September: China 76%, Korea 15%

Newbuilding Price Index at 186.59, Up 0.25 Points

In September, Korea's shipbuilding orders more than doubled from the previous month. In contrast, China experienced a slight decrease, but it still maintained a significant lead in global market share for new orders.

According to Clarkson Research, a UK-based shipping and shipbuilding market research firm, on October 7, global ship orders in September reached 6.2 million CGT (202 vessels), a 1% decrease from the previous month's 6.28 million CGT. Compared to 7.1 million CGT in the same month last year, this is a 13% drop.

By country, Korea secured 1.27 million CGT (24 vessels), accounting for 21% of the total. This represents a 127% increase compared to the 560,000 CGT recorded in the previous month.

China took 4.74 million CGT (165 vessels), making up 76% of total orders. This is a 9% decrease compared to 5.21 million CGT in the previous month.

From January to September this year, cumulative global orders stood at 70.71 million CGT (2,558 vessels), a 57% increase from 45.13 million CGT during the same period last year. Of this amount, Korea accounted for 10.93 million CGT (277 vessels), or 15%, while China accounted for 53.91 million CGT (1,995 vessels), or 76%. Compared with the same period last year, Korea's order volume increased by 43%, and China's by 92%.

As of the end of September, the global order backlog was 223.67 million CGT, an increase of 2.72 million CGT from the previous month. Korea accounted for 38.17 million CGT, or 17%, while China accounted for 151.04 million CGT, or 68%.

Ship prices also rose slightly. As of the end of September, the Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index stood at 186.59, up 0.25 points from 186.34 in the previous month. This is 23% higher than in September 2021, when the index was at 151.40.

By ship type, LNG carriers were priced at 246.5 million dollars, very large crude carriers (VLCCs) at 131 million dollars, and ultra-large container ships in the 22,000–24,000 TEU class at 248.5 million dollars.

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