96 ships! Ship prices continue to rise! Latest global shipbuilding industry monthly report released

New shipbuilding orders decreased by 34 vessels month-on-month, with Korean shipyards receiving the most orders and China ranking second

According to the latest Clarkson data (as of April 9, 2024), global new shipbuilding orders in March 2024 totaled 96 vessels, amounting to 2,597,141 CGT. Compared to February 2024's global new orders of 130 vessels totaling 4,432,942 CGT, the number decreased by 34 vessels month-on-month, and compensated gross tonnage decreased by 41.41% month-on-month. Compared to March 2023's global new orders of 221 vessels totaling 4,664,718 CGT, the number decreased by 125 vessels year-on-year, and compensated gross tonnage decreased by 44.32% year-on-year.

In terms of vessel types, 24 bulk carriers (totaling 1,776,400 DWT), 20 oil tankers (totaling 3,016,950 DWT), 13 chemical tankers (totaling 186,300 DWT), 20 liquefied gas carriers (totaling 2,069,000 cubic meters), 11 other vessel types (totaling 323,933 CGT), and 8 offshore vessels (totaling 129,456 CGT) were ordered. Regarding order types, new bulk carrier orders included 2 Capesize bulk carriers and 22 handy/Supramax bulk carriers; new oil tanker orders included 5 VLCCs, 2 Suezmax tankers, 8 Aframax tankers, 2 handy tankers, and 1 small tanker. By country of accepting shipyard, out of the 96 global new shipbuilding orders in March, totaling 2,597,141 CGT, Chinese shipyards secured 57 vessels (totaling 1,030,633 CGT); Japanese shipyards secured 2 vessels (totaling 19,452 CGT); and Korean shipyards secured 22 vessels (totaling 1,134,764 CGT). The compensated gross tonnage accounted for 39.68%, 0.75%, and 43.69% of global new shipbuilding orders, respectively.

From January to March 2024, new shipbuilding orders totaled 421 vessels, amounting to 29,090,190 DWT. Compared to the same period in 2023, which saw 623 vessels totaling 24,825,944 DWT, the number of vessels decreased by 32.42% year-on-year, while the DWT increased by 17.18% year-on-year. In terms of vessel types, there were 66 bulk carriers (totaling 6,324,800 DWT), 75 oil tankers (totaling 13,260,083 DWT), 72 chemical tankers (totaling 2,001,286 DWT), 22 container ships (totaling 196,953 TEU), 70 liquefied gas carriers (totaling 7,856,000 cubic meters), 49 offshore vessels (totaling 323,962 CGT), and 67 other vessel types (totaling 1,163,553 CGT). By country, China secured 231 new orders (totaling 5,298,212 CGT); Japan secured 14 new orders (totaling 228,130 CGT); and South Korea secured 96 new orders (totaling 4,547,579 CGT). Their compensated gross tonnage accounted for 48.30%, 2.08%, and 41.45% of global new shipbuilding orders, respectively.

Global orderbook stands at 4,650 vessels, with Chinese shipyards holding 2,809 vessels, accounting for 60.41% of the global market share

According to statistics, as of April 9, 2024, global shipyards held an orderbook of 4,650 vessels, totaling 127,342,297 CGT. Compared to the statistics of March 9, 2024, which showed 4,652 vessels totaling 126,957,693 CGT, the number of vessels in the orderbook decreased by 0.04% month-on-month, while compensated gross tonnage increased by 0.30% month-on-month.

Among these, Chinese shipyards held 2,809 vessels, totaling 64,074,617 CGT, accounting for 60.41% of the global market share by number of vessels and 50.32% by CGT; Japanese shipyards held 675 vessels, totaling 12,362,276 CGT, accounting for 14.52% of the global market share by number of vessels and 9.71% by CGT; Korean shipyards held 724 vessels, totaling 38,940,105 CGT, accounting for 15.57% of the global market share by number of vessels and 30.58% by CGT.

Looking at major vessel types, the orderbook includes 1,183 bulk carriers (totaling 90,254,369 DWT), 932 oil tankers (totaling 64,630,013 DWT), and 736 container ships (totaling 6,241,929 TEU).

Completions increased by 23.56% month-on-month, with oil tankers and container ships having the most deliveries

In March 2024, global shipyards delivered a total of 158 new vessels, amounting to 7,127,045 DWT. Compared to the 151 new vessel deliveries in February 2024, totaling 5,767,949 DWT, the number of vessels increased by 4.64% month-on-month, and deadweight tonnage increased by 23.56% month-on-month. Compared to the 219 new vessel deliveries in March 2023, totaling 9,274,998 DWT, the number of vessels decreased by 27.85% year-on-year, and deadweight tonnage decreased by 23.16% year-on-year.

In terms of vessel types, 37 bulk carriers (totaling 2,788,569 DWT), 40 container ships (totaling 272,538 TEU), 5 oil tankers (totaling 244,586 DWT), 11 chemical tankers (totaling 339,705 DWT), 7 liquefied gas carriers (totaling 792,900 cubic meters), 38 offshore vessels (totaling 50,351 DWT), and 20 other vessel types (totaling 213,289 DWT) were delivered.

From January to March 2024, global shipyards delivered a total of 552 new vessels, amounting to 23,571,892 DWT. Compared to the 632 new vessel deliveries in the same period of 2023, totaling 24,284,518 DWT, the number of vessels decreased by 12.66% year-on-year, and deadweight tonnage decreased by 2.93% year-on-year.

In terms of vessel types, 124 bulk carriers (totaling 9,911,474 DWT), 113 container ships (totaling 736,217 TEU), 31 oil tankers (totaling 1,825,983 DWT), 31 chemical tankers (totaling 839,947 DWT), 32 liquefied gas carriers (totaling 2,995,014 cubic meters), 139 offshore vessels (totaling 267,771 DWT), and 82 other vessel types (totaling 619,401 DWT) were delivered.

Newbuilding prices for the three major vessel types all increased

In March, the newbuilding price indices for bulk carriers, oil tankers, and container ships increased by 4 points, 5 points, and 1 point month-on-month, reaching 170 points, 216 points, and 113 points respectively.

In March, the prices of newbuild dry bulk carriers all increased month-on-month. Specifically, the prices of newbuild Cape-size (176/180 KDWT), Panamax (75/77 KDWT), Supramax (61/64.5 KDWT), and Handysize (25/30 KDWT) bulk carriers increased by US$750,000, US$1,250,000, US$750,000, and US$230,000 respectively, reaching US$68.5 million, US$36 million, US$34 million, and US$27.16 million; The prices of newbuild tankers also increased month-on-month across all types. Specifically, the prices of newbuild VLCCs (315-320 KDWT), Suezmax (156-158 KDWT), Aframax (113-115 KDWT), Panamax (73-75 KDWT), and Handysize (47-51 KDWT) tankers increased by US$2 million, US$2 million, US$1 million, US$1.5 million, and US$1 million respectively, reaching US$130 million, US$87.5 million, US$72 million, US$60 million, and US$49.5 million; Regarding newbuild container ships, except for the prices of newbuild feeder Panamax (2600-2900 TEU) and Handysize (1850-2100 TEU and 1000-1100 TEU) container ships which remained flat month-on-month, the prices of newbuild container ships of other types all increased month-on-month. Specifically, the prices of newbuild feeder Panamax (2600-2900 TEU), Handysize (1850-2100 TEU and 1000-1100 TEU) container ships were US$41.25 million, US$30.5 million, and US$24 million respectively. The prices of newbuild Post-Panamax (22000-24000 TEU and 13000-13500 TEU) and Panamax (7500-8500 TEU and 3500-4000 TEU) container ships increased by US$1 million, US$1 million, US$500,000, and US$500,000 respectively, reaching US$265.5 million, US$174 million, US$118.5 million, and US$57.5 million.