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…
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 from 2008.
Much of the growth has been captured by Chinese shipyards, who secured 74% of the CGT contracted during the past year. This has further strengthened China’s position as the world’s largest shipbuilding nation. Chinese shipyards now hold 64% of the global order book while South Korean shipyards hold 19% and Japanese 6%.
China’s dominance extends across the major cargo-carrying ship sectors. Its shipyards hold more than 72% of the order book in each of the six main sectors: container, tanker, gas tanker, dry bulk, other dry cargo and RoRo. Combined, these sectors account for 88% of the global order book. Their yards’ largest share is in the container ship segment, with 81% of the order book.
“Container ships dominate both the order book and its growth over the past 12 months. They account for 30% of CGT on order and 68% of the increase during the past year,” says Rasmussen.
This story was originally published by Hellenic Shipping News. Read the full story at Hellenic Shipping News →
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