March 2018 Global Shipbuilding Industry Monthly Report

1. First-quarter new order signings increased by 156.95% year-on-year

According to the latest data from Clarkson, 62 new orders were signed globally in March 2018, totaling 1,643,185 CGT. Compared to the 56 new orders totaling 1,877,005 CGT in February 2018, the number increased by 6 month-on-month, and the corrected gross tonnage decreased by 12.46% month-on-month. Compared to the 62 new orders totaling 697,503 CGT in March 2017, the number remained the same year-on-year, while the corrected gross tonnage increased by 135.58% year-on-year.

In terms of ship types, there were 12 bulk carriers totaling 1,193,000 DWT; 12 tankers totaling 2,990,500 DWT; 4 chemical tankers totaling 220,000 DWT; 2 container ships totaling 300 TEU; 8 LPG carriers totaling 1,401,600 cubic meters; and 24 other ship types totaling 137,071 CGT. In terms of order types, 3 Cape-size bulk carriers, 6 Kamsarmax bulk carriers, and 3 Handysize bulk carriers were newly signed for bulk carriers; 9 VLCCs, 2 Aframax tankers, and 1 small tanker were newly signed for tankers; and 2 feeder container ships were newly signed for container ships. In terms of the country of the shipyard receiving the orders, in March, 62 new ships were ordered globally, totaling 1,643,185 CGT. Among them, Chinese shipyards received 18 ships, totaling 396,600 CGT; Japanese shipyards received 3 ships, totaling 39,400 CGT; and South Korean shipyards received 18 ships, totaling 1,090,600 CGT. The corrected gross tonnage accounted for 24.14%, 2.40%, and 66.37% of the global new ship orders, respectively.

In the first quarter of 2018, 211 new ship orders were placed, totaling 18,379,144 DWT. Compared with 241 new orders totaling 7,152,792 DWT in the same period of 2017, the number of ships and DWT decreased by 12.45% and increased by 156.95% year-on-year, respectively. In terms of ship types, there were 49 bulk carriers totaling 7,910,400 DWT; 28 tankers totaling 5,357,800 DWT; 15 chemical tankers totaling 491,599 DWT; 32 container ships totaling 238,300 TEU; 28 LPG carriers totaling 3,434,500 cubic meters; 11 offshore vessels totaling 202,465 CGT; and 48 other ship types totaling 1,016,480 CGT. In terms of countries, China signed 89 orders totaling 2,151,361 CGT; Japan signed 27 orders totaling 813,310 CGT; and South Korea signed 55 orders totaling 2,718,021 CGT. The corrected gross tonnage accounted for 33.19%, 12.55%, and 41.93% of the global new ship orders, respectively.

2. 3,089 global hand orders in March

Data statistics show that as of April 10, 2018, global shipyards had 3,089 hand orders, totaling 77,431,392 CGT. Compared with 3,120 hand orders totaling 77,479,608 CGT on March 12, 2018, the number of hand orders decreased by 0.99% month-on-month, and the corrected gross tonnage decreased by 0.06% month-on-month.

Among them, Chinese shipyards had 1,539 hand orders, totaling 29,376,224 CGT, accounting for 49.82% of the global market share in terms of the number of ships and 37.94% in terms of CGT; Japanese shipyards had 563 hand orders, totaling 14,855,027 CGT, accounting for 18.23% of the global market share in terms of the number of ships and 19.18% in terms of CGT; and South Korean shipyards had 380 hand orders, totaling 16,690,177 CGT, accounting for 12.30% of the global market share in terms of the number of ships and 21.55% in terms of CGT.

In terms of major ship types, there were 720 hand orders for bulk carriers, totaling 81,135,591 DWT; 752 hand orders for tankers, totaling 69,177,889 DWT; and 382 hand orders for container ships, totaling 2,710,582 TEU.

3. Completion volume increased by 22.70% month-on-month in March

Data statistics show that in March 2018, global shipyards delivered 107 new ships, totaling 5,593,988 DWT. Compared with 84 new ship delivery orders totaling 4,559,146 DWT in February 2018, the number increased by 27.38% month-on-month, and the DWT increased by 22.70% month-on-month. Compared with 196 new ships totaling 10,587,580 DWT delivered by global shipyards in March 2017, the number decreased by 45.41% year-on-year, and the DWT decreased by 47.16% year-on-year.

In terms of ship types, 21 bulk carriers were delivered, totaling 1,973,085 DWT; 12 container ships were delivered, totaling 75,960 TEU; 14 tankers were delivered, totaling 1,521,469 DWT; 12 chemical tankers were delivered, totaling 337,244 DWT; 12 LPG carriers were delivered, totaling 1,447,038 cubic meters; 24 offshore vessels were delivered, totaling 42,894 DWT; and 12 other ship types were delivered, totaling 112,621 DWT.

In the first quarter of 2018, global shipyards delivered a total of 437 new ships, totaling 23,654,470 DWT. Compared with 622 new ship delivery orders totaling 35,772,137 DWT in the same period of 2017, the number decreased by 29.74% year-on-year, and the DWT decreased by 33.87% year-on-year. In terms of ship types, 92 bulk carriers were delivered, totaling 8,356,772 DWT; 48 container ships were delivered, totaling 384,543 TEU; 68 tankers were delivered, totaling 6,925,572 DWT; 45 chemical tankers were delivered, totaling 1,310,277 DWT; 39 LPG carriers were delivered, totaling 4,232,436 cubic meters; 95 offshore vessels were delivered, totaling 153,858 DWT; and 50 other ship types were delivered, totaling 417,291 DWT.