Newbuilding orders at Chinese shipyards up 43% in H1

Chinese shipbuilding yards received 55.22 million dwt of newbuilding orders in the first half of 2024 up 43.9% year-on-year buoyed by tanker orders, including VLCCs, and resurgence in container ship orders.

New contracts at Chinese yards have pushed the total orderbook to 171.55 million dwt up 38.6% year-on-year.

Output at the country’s shipbuilders was also up 18.4% at 25.02 million dwt. Chinese shipbuilders have bolstered their labour force with workers from the construction sector that has experienced a slump in activity and a number of yards are also expanding facilities.

Shipbuilding export volume, newly-received export shipbuilding orders and export orders on hand accounted for 89.1%, 93.5% and 93.6% of national volume respectively. Total ship export value was $20.67 billion.

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China has reinforced its position as the world’s largest shipbuilding nation. As the end of June, China’s shipbuilding output, newly received orders and orders on hand accounted for 55%, 74.7% and 58.9% of the global shipbuilding market share.

Jiangsu province, Shanghai, Zhejiang province, Liaoning province and Shandong province were the top five shipbuilding provinces and city in China, which delivered 90.7% vessels of the national volume in the first half of this year. 

Related:Yangzijiang Shipbuilding’s orderbook reaches record $16.1bn