Chinese shipyard newbuilding orders up 68% in the H1

Statistics released by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI)  showed a 67.7% surge in new conracts in the first half of this year at Chinese shipyards compared to the same period in 2022.  As a result orders on hand were 123.77m dwt as the end of June, an increase of 20.5%. Among which, export orders account for 92.8% of the total volume.

Newbuilding orders have bounced back sharply this year with containerships and LNG carriers continuing to dominate, although there have also been more crude and product tanker contracts.

In terms of work completed in the first half of the year Chinese yards' shipbuilding volume was 21.13m dwt for the first half, growing 14.2% year-on-year.

In the first six months, China’s shipbuilding output, newly-received shipbuilding orders and orders on hand in deadweight tonnage accounted for 49.6%, 72.6% and 53.2% of the global market share; the amount in gross tonnage accounted for 47.3%, 67.2% and 46.8% of the world volume, both ranking as number one in the global market. 

The growing dominance of Chinese shipbuilding over rival Korea was noted by Adam Kent, Managing Director of Maritime Strategies International (MSI), in the latest edition of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast when discussing the outlook for global shipbuilding in the second half of 2023.

Related:CSSC’s big three Shanghai yards secure 63 newbuild orders in H1

Listen to the podcast below, the section relating to the shipbuilding market starts at 00:33:20

Industrial concentration maintained high level in the first half. Shipbuilding output, newly-received order and orders on hands of the major ten Chinese yards accounted for 67.9%, 61.3% and 62% of national volume, respectively.