Korea's Joseon Sweeps Half of Global Ship Orders in Q1, Surpassing China to Rank 1st

Q1 Global Order Share Surpasses China for First Time in 7 Years... Share 50% vs 42%
Korea 4.57 Million CGT vs China 3.86 Million CGT Orders... Largest Share in 22 Years

A 13,000 TEU (1 TEU equals one 20-foot container) class large container ship built by Samsung Heavy Industries. (Photo by Samsung Heavy Industries)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] South Korea secured half of the world's ship orders in the first quarter, achieving a 50% market share and ranking first. This marks the first time in seven years that South Korea has surpassed China, as well as the highest market share in 26 years.

According to Clarkson Research, a UK-based shipbuilding and shipping market analysis firm, the global ship order volume in the first quarter was 9.2 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT, 259 vessels). This represents a 41% decrease compared to the first quarter of last year. Of this, South Korea secured 4.57 million CGT (97 vessels), recording a market share of approximately 50%. China secured 3.86 million CGT (130 vessels), holding second place with a 42% market share. Although China led in the number of vessels, South Korea ranked first based on CGT, which reflects the complexity of different ship types. The industry attributes the decrease compared to last year largely to the resumption of ship orders from the end of 2020, following the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020.

South Korea's shipbuilding overtaking China in first-quarter orders is the first time in seven years since 2015. At that time, South Korea held 29% and China 28%, a narrow gap of 1 percentage point, but this time the gap widened to 8 percentage points. Achieving a 50% global market share is the first since Clarkson Research began publishing data in 1996.

Looking at last month’s figures, South Korea secured 1.64 million CGT (35 vessels, 51%) out of the global ship order volume of 3.23 million CGT (88 vessels), maintaining first place ahead of China with 1.36 million CGT (46 vessels, 42%) and Japan with 120,000 CGT (3 vessels, 4%).

Regarding first-quarter orders by ship type, there were 38 large container ships of 12,000 TEU class (1 TEU equals one 20-foot container). South Korea secured 21 vessels (55%) of these. Among 37 large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers over 140,000 m³, South Korea secured 26 vessels (70%). This indicates that South Korea still holds a strong position in large vessels. There were no orders for ultra-large crude carriers (VLCC), S-Max class, or A-Max class oil tankers in the first quarter.