Clarksons Research announced on Oct. 13 that global new shipbuilding orders added up to 3.28 million CGT (116 ships) last month and 60 percent, 28 percent and 8 percent of the new orders went to Chinese, South Korean and Japanese shipbuilders.

The South Korean shipbuilders’ market share was 42 percent in the first eight months of this year. According to experts, last month’s drop is because they chose their orders with the number of their contracts already large. Last month, the average contract prices of the Chinese and South Korean shipbuilders were US$60 million and US$170 million, respectively.

The newbuilding price index was 149 points last month, the highest since July 2009. The price of LNG ships exceeded US$200 million for the first time since June 2016. This year, a total of 46 LNG ships with a capacity of at least 140,000 cubic meters each were ordered and all but one went to South Korean shipbuilders.

The rise in price index is because of both demand and supply factors. The demand factors include an increase in the necessity of new and green ships caused by the International Maritime Organization’s tighter environmental regulations. The supply factors include a shortage of docks caused by the long restructuring in the industry.
According to the research firm, new orders totaled 37.54 million CGT for the first three quarters of this year, up 184 percent from a year ago. “The ratio of new green ship orders increased from 21.3 percent to 32 percent in one year,” the firm explained, adding, “The ratio is estimated to reach 59 percent in 2030 and 100 percent in 2050.”

It said that the average annual order placement for 2023 to 2031 is estimated at 42 million CGT, almost twice the amount recorded in 2020, and the current boom in the market is unlikely to subside for a while.

Source: Business Korea