Last month, global ship orders increased, but the volume secured by the domestic shipbuilding industry was recorded at about half of the previous month. Meanwhile, the order volume for China, a competing country, nearly tripled compared to the previous month.
According to Clarkson Research, a UK-based shipbuilding and shipping market analysis agency, global ship orders last month amounted to 4.71 million CGT (Compensated Gross Tonnage, equivalent to 121 vessels), a 24% increase compared to the same period last year. Compared to the previous month, it increased by 56%.
Korea secured 670,000 CGT (13 vessels, 14%) of this, ranking second after China with 3.58 million CGT (91 vessels, 76%). This is about one-fifth of China's volume. Korea's orders decreased by 460,000 CGT compared to the previous month (1.13 million CGT), while China’s orders increased by 2.28 million CGT compared to the previous month (1.3 million CGT). However, compared to the same period last year, both Korea and China saw increases. Korea increased by 290,000 CGT compared to April last year (380,000 CGT), and China increased by 2.17 million CGT compared to April last year (1.41 million CGT).
An industry insider said, "The selective order strategy of domestic shipbuilders may have had some influence," adding, "If many orders had been placed for general-purpose vessels such as bulk carriers, which domestic large shipyards do not build, rather than high value-added vessels like liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, domestic shipbuilders would not be able to secure orders due to China's price competitiveness, even if they wanted to."
Based on cumulative global ship orders through April this year, China leads with 9.29 million CGT (335 vessels, 57%), and Korea ranks second with 5.24 million CGT (110 vessels, 32%).
As of the end of April, the global order backlog stood at 129.91 million CGT, similar to the end of the previous month (130.01 million CGT).
By country, the order backlog is 64.86 million CGT (50%) for China and 39.10 million CGT (30%) for Korea. Compared to the end of the previous month, China’s backlog decreased by 70,000 CGT, while Korea’s increased by 210,000 CGT.
The Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index was 183.92, continuing to rise this year. It increased by 10% compared to the same month last year and rose by 43% compared to the same month in 2020.
The price per vessel by ship type was $264 million for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers over 174,000 m³, $130.5 million for very large crude carriers (VLCC), and $266.5 million for ultra-large container ships.
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