Chinese Shipbuilders Lead Global Shipbuilding Industry Last Year
South Korean shipbuilders concentrated on ships with higher added values last year, and Chinese shipbuilders became the winner in the industry as a result.
According to Clarksons Research, shipbuilding contracts that add up to 45.73 million CGT were signed last year and slightly less than half of the total, 22.8 million CGT to be specific, went to Chinese shipbuilders.
South Korean shipbuilders came in second with 17.35 million CGT after having taken the lion’s share in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Chinese shipbuilders overtook South Korean shipbuilders by winning most of last year’s container ship contracts. Last year, container ship contracts increased more than 10-fold compared to the previous year with ocean freight charges surging. At the same time, South Korean shipbuilders became more selective and focused on certain types such as LNG carriers.
Chinese shipbuilders accounted for slightly less than half of the global shipbuilding orders last year.