China continues to consolidate its position as the world’s largest shipbuilding country as 2024 order data comes out.
On January 8, Clarksons data showed that in 2024, global shipyards received a total of 2,412 new vessels with a total order volume of 65.81 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT), an increase of 34% from 2023, reaching the highest level since 2007 (94 million CGT).
Chinese shipyards received orders of 46.45 million CGT (1,711 vessels) for the year, with a market share of 70%. South Korean shipyards had orders of 10.98 million CGT (250 vessels), with a market share of only 17%. The order book of other countries and regions, such as Japan, amounted to 8.38 million CGT (451 vessels), accounting for 13%.
China leads South Korea by 35.47 million CGT, with the order gap between China and South Korea reaching an all-time high.
Compared with the previous year, South Korea’s order book grew only 9%, while China’s order book jumped 58%. Due to insufficient production capacity, the three major Korean shipbuilders still adhere to the selective order-taking strategy of “high value-added vessels”. On the other hand, many Chinese shipyards that were closed during the industry downturn have been restarted, and their production capacity is constantly expanding, so they can take on more orders.
As of the end of December, the global shipyards’ backlog of orders increased by 1.67 million CGT from November to 157.17 million CGT. Chinese shipyards’ hand-held orders amounted to 90.78 million CGT (58%), while South Korean shipyards’ hand-held orders amounted to 37.87 million CGT (24%). Compared with the same period last year, China’s hand-held orders increased by 25.88 million CGT, while South Korea decreased by 1.9 million CGT, China’s shipbuilding further widened the gap with South Korea.