China's first large cruise ship is delivered on November 4, 2023. (PHOTO: VCG)

Edited by QI Liming

Industry data shows that while the market share of China's shipbuilding industry continues to expand, a large number of high-tech shipbuilders are emphasizing the quality development of China's shipbuilding industry through optimizing types of ship. It is therefore entirely possible that the shipbuilding industry will become an ace up the sleeve of  China's exports.

Taking the lead spot in new global orders

According to the data from global market researcher Clarksons Research Service on November 29, South Korean shipbuilders are expected to lag far behind their Chinese counterparts in new global orders, to place second worldwide in the industry this year amid a demand decline.

Clarksons data showed that South Korean shipyards won a combined 9.55 million compensated gross tonnages (CGTs) in new orders in the first 11 months of this year, down 39 percent from a year earlier.

Chinese shipyards outperformed their South Korean counterparts, clinching 21.89 million CGTs in new orders. South Korean shipbuilders obtained orders to construct 201 vessels, compared to China's 995 ships.

According to the Korea JoongAng Daily, given their track record, Chinese shipyards are expected to take the top spot in new global orders for the third straight year in 2023, with South Korea likely to place second.

According to data from the maritime industry professional services firm Lloyd's Register, in 2022, China accounted for 48 percent of global shipyard output, with South Korea at 25 percent and Japan at 15 percent.

Decades after China began its concerted efforts to build competitiveness in the global shipping industry, 2022 was the first time that Chinese shipbuilders exceeded the combined market share of Japanese and South Korean shipyards. Ships delivered to new owners by Chinese shipyards in 2022 totaled 14.6 million CGT, or nearly half of the 30.8 million CGT delivered globally, said The Maritime Executive.

China's market share has been growing consistently over the past 20 years. In 2000, Clarksons calculated they held less than 10 percent of the market, but in 2009 emerged as the market leaders.

As South China Morning Post reported, China has become the world's go-to country for shipbuilding after a boom of overseas orders. "China becoming a major world shipbuilding center may cause other countries to consider it to fill immediate needs for orders where other yards are already at full capacity," said Tom Ramage, economic policy analyst with the Washington-based Korea Economic Institute of America.

Seeking diverse ship building capacity

"Chinese shipyards' success has been achieved by maintaining a leading position within dry bulk ships and, more recently, establishing themselves as the premier location for building container ships," said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO).

"They also hold a large share of orders for most other ship types, but have yet to establish themselves as key players within the gas carrier sector," noted Rasmussen. However, BIMCO expects that it is possible that China could make inroads also into this sector, just like they gradually attracted orders for ultra large container ships.

In 2022, Chinese shipyards won 45 LNG tanker orders worth an estimated 9.8 billion USD, about five times their 2021 order values. Three Chinese shipyards won nearly 30 percent of 2022's record orders for 163 new gas carriers, according to Clarksons.

Meanwhile, S&P Global Commodity Insights said Chinese shipyards have accumulated their largest number of LNG new-build orders till this September, positioning them in coming years as an alternative to South Korean yards. In the first half of 2023, Chinese yards received 14 large LNG carrier orders, accounting for 35 percent of global orders for the period, as Xinhua News Agency reported this August.