Global shipyard order book grows 13%, strengthening China’s lead
“On 1 September 2026, the global shipyard order book reached an estimated 203.2m Compensated Gross Tonnage (CGT), up 13% from 180.0m CGT a year earlier,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO. This is slightly below the all-time high of 210.4m CGT reached in May but remains above the previous record of 195.4m CGT ...
The global shipyard order book grew by 13% in the past year, solidifying China's dominant position in the industry. Chinese shipyards secured 74% of the contracts, compared to 64% of the global order book, compared to South Korean and Japanese shipyards at 19% and 6% respectively. This growth is primarily driven by the booming container ship segment, where China controls 81% of the order book, representing 30% of contract value.
Chinese shipyards currently possess capacity coverage equivalent to 4.2 years of annual output, whereas South Korean and Japanese yards have 1.9 and 1.7 years respectively. However, to meet the scheduled deliveries of 44.0m CGT in 2028, Chinese shipyards must significantly boost their output, which could lead to potential underutilization of capacity if contracts dwindle.
Written by urgent.news from Hellenic Shipping News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.