China's shipbuilding lead endures, but market share dips amid US port-fee threat
China retained its leading position in the global shipbuilding market during the first half of the year, according to data from the industry association, despite a decline in market share caused by buyers' concerns over the threat of US port fees on Chinese-built vessels.
It secured 68.3 per cent of new vessel orders in the global market in the first six months of the year, compared with 74.7 per cent in the same period last year, China's shipbuilding industry association said on Monday. The order volume fell by 18.2 per cent, year on year, to 44.33 million deadweight tonnes.
Analysts have attributed the decline in market share to a decrease in orders for oil and LNG tankers, but still believe in China's competitive advantages.'Shipowners are cautious about choosing shipyards for their tanker orders, given the US' prominent role in oil and LNG export,' said Wu Jialu, chief analyst at Citic Futures.
Considering that the US port fee targeting Chinese-built vessels is set to take effect on October 14, Wu said such concern could have a medium- to long-term impact on China's shipbuilding industry.
The US, a major oil exporter, reached a record high in crude oil exports in 2024, exceeding an annual average of 4.1 million barrels per day, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.
It also remained the world's largest LNG exporter in 2024, exporting an average of 11.9 billion cubic feet per day, the data showed.Unlike typical half-year data releases that detail the top-three players' market shares and newbuilding orders by vessel category, the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, which has maintained a low profile since the announcement of the US port fee targeting China-built or operated vessels, released only basic data on China's market performance.
In terms of the three major shipbuilding indicators – ship completions, new orders, and outstanding orders – 'China continues to maintain its global leadership', the industry association said.
China's ship completions accounted for 51.7 per cent of the global market in the first half of this year, while outstanding orders represented 64.9 per cent of the global market share as of June, its data showed.The association did not disclose the market shares of major competitors South Korea and Japan.
But earlier this month, data from maritime consultancy Clarksons Research showed that South Korea's market share increased despite a slight decline in newbuilding volume, amid a global drop of more than 50 per cent in new orders, year on year, due to rising geopolitical tensions.
Chinese shipyards will be able to maintain a stable market share even as US port fees begin to take effect, thanks to their competitive advantages in cost efficiency, a resilient supply chain, and capacity scale, You Daozhu, an analyst at Huaxi Securities, said in a recent shipping-industry
report.
The scale advantage is expected to be further strengthened as the China Securities Regulatory Commission just approved the merger of China State Shipbuilding Corporation and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation on Friday. The merger creates the world's largest shipbuilding conglomerate.
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