152 vessels! Orders are making a strong rebound! Chinese shipbuilders firmly hold half of the global market.

This year, the global new shipbuilding market has generally cooled down, yet it saw a noticeable rebound in November. Despite the uncertainty in the external environment, Chinese shipbuilders have maintained strong momentum, firmly controlling nearly half of the global market and remaining No. 1 worldwide for eight consecutive months.

According to data released by Clarkson on December 5, in November of this year, global new ship orders totaled 152 vessels with a combined gross tonnage (CGT) of 5.13 million CGT, representing a 1% decrease from the 5.17 million CGT recorded during the same period last year, measured in CGT terms. Compared to October of this year, when new orders stood at 2.99 million CGT, November’s figure represented a 72% increase. Among these orders, Chinese shipbuilders secured 100 new vessels totaling 2.58 million CGT, capturing a 50% share of the global market and ranking first; South Korean shipbuilders received orders for 40 vessels amounting to 1.97 million CGT, accounting for a 38% share of the global market and placing them second.

From January to November this year, the global cumulative volume of new ship orders reached 1,627 vessels totaling 44.99 million CGT. Measured in CGT, this represents a 37% decrease compared to the 71.52 million CGT recorded from January to November last year. Among them, Chinese shipbuilders received orders for 1,067 vessels totaling 26.64 million CGT, down 47% year-on-year, with a market share of 59%, ranking first globally. South Korean shipbuilders secured orders for 223 vessels totaling 10.03 million CGT, down 5% year-on-year, with a market share of 22%, placing them second.

As of the end of November this year, the global order book stood at 168.4 million CGT, a decrease of 1.2 million CGT compared to the end of October. Among these, China’s order book for new ships reached 103.69 million CGT, up 84.8 million CGT year-on-year but down 10,000 CGT month-on-month, maintaining its leading position with a market share of 62%. South Korea’s order book for new ships totaled 33.76 million CGT, down 3.66 million CGT year-on-year and 420,000 CGT month-on-month, accounting for a market share of 20% and ranking second.

In November of this year, newbuilding prices continued to maintain a stable trend. The Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index stood at 184.33 points, down 0.54 percentage points from October’s 184.87 points. This represents an increase of roughly 47% compared to the 125.06 points recorded in the same period five years ago.

From the perspective of vessel types, the price of a 174,000-cubic-meter large LNG carrier remains at US$248 million, unchanged from October; the price of a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) stands at US$127.5 million, up by US$1.5 million from October’s US$126 million; and the price of a ultra-large container ship with a capacity of 22,000 to 24,000 TEUs is US$264 million, down by US$2.5 million from October’s US$266.5 million.

The Korean industry stated that although Korean shipbuilders received fewer orders in November than their Chinese counterparts, in terms of CGT per vessel, Korea averaged 49,000 CGT per vessel, while China averaged 26,000 CGT per vessel—nearly twice as much for Korea as for China. This is because Korean shipbuilders have continued their strategy of focusing on high-value-added vessel types.

Looking at the order intake situation in the Chinese and Korean shipbuilding industries over the first 11 months of this year, China has topped the order-intake rankings nine times, while South Korea has only reached the top twice—in January and March at the beginning of the year.

Although Chinese shipbuilding companies continue to maintain a leading position, their global market share has declined somewhat this year due to escalating geopolitical tensions. According to Clarkson’s data, in the first three quarters of this year, new ship orders placed by Chinese shipbuilders accounted for 65% of the global total, measured in deadweight tonnage—a decrease of 10 percentage points from approximately 75% during the same period last year. Meanwhile, South Korean shipbuilders have seen a significant increase in their market share, with their order volume rising sharply from 13.3% a year ago to 25.9% in the first three quarters.

Last April, at the petition of five U.S. labor unions, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) launched a Section 301 investigation into China’s maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding industries. In February of this year, the USTR released its proposed Section 301 measures targeting China’s shipping, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors, and in April it announced its final ruling: effective October 14 of this year, additional port service fees will be imposed on vessels owned or operated by Chinese companies, vessels built in China, and vessels flying the Chinese flag.

Under this plan, the USTR will impose a fee based on the net tonnage of vessels entering U.S. ports per voyage, levied on Chinese shipowners and operators. The fee rate is $50 per net ton, and it will be increased annually over the next three years at specific increments, rising to $140 per net ton by 2028.

For each vessel built at Chinese shipyards, regardless of the owner/operator’s nationality, a fee will be levied either per net ton or per container unloaded—whichever is higher. The initial fee rate is US$18 per net ton, increasing to US$33 by 2028; alternatively, a fee of US$120 per container will apply, rising to US$250 per container by 2028. Each vessel may be charged a maximum of five times per year.

According to calculations based on the phased fee mechanism set forth in the latest proposal, a 10,000-TEU container ship built by a Chinese shipyard will be charged a port fee of US$1.2 million per voyage when calling at U.S. ports (approximately RMB 8.5458 million). By 2028, this fee will increase to US$2.5 million (approximately RMB 17.8037 million).

As a countermeasure, in October of this year, the Ministry of Transport announced that starting October 14, it would impose a special port fee on vessels originating from the U.S. This measure is a legitimate step to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese industries and enterprises and to maintain a fair competitive environment for international shipping.

Following the agreement between China and the United States at the end of October this year to suspend mutual port fees and reciprocal tariffs for one year, on November 9, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced that, starting November 10, it would suspend for one year the implementation of its Section 301 investigation measures targeting China’s maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding industries. China also decided to suspend the collection of special port charges on U.S.-flagged vessels.