Chinese shipowners’ newbuilding strategies are undergoing a significant change with a greater variety of ship types ordered and greener tonnage, says Clarksons.
They have long been major drivers of newbuilding activity — with 2022 no exception — contracting 308 vessels of 12.8m gt last year.
While this was down 30% year on year in gt terms, China remained ahead of both Japan, with 10.5m-gt, and Greece, at 6.1m-gt, accounting for the largest share of ordering globally, some 18%, for a fourth straight year.
Despite the decline, Clarksons said the estimated value of Chinese newbuilding investment, which totalled $18.4bn in 2022, was down only 2% year on year, reflecting elevated newbuilding prices and a shifting ship type and fuel technology mix.
“While Chinese newbuild ordering has traditionally been dominated by tankers and bulkers, making up 72% of total gross tonnes ordered in the 10 years ‘pre-Covid’, the mix has increasingly diversified, and in 2022 this share slipped to a low of just 26% as other ship types came to the fore,” said Clarksons.
The LNG carrier sector, in particular, was in focus in 2022, with Chinese owners said to be a key part of the record ordering seen globally.
“Chinese owners ordered a record 29 LNG carriers of 3.1m-gt, or 4.9m-cbm, in 2022, accounting for 24% of total tonnage ordered… and exceeding Chinese owners’ total LNG carrier ordering across the last decade,” Clarksons said.
Similarly, the car carrier sector saw a renewed wave of newbuilding interest last year, with Chinese owners ordering 20 ships totalling 1.1m-gt, or 150,000 ceu, against a backdrop of surging Chinese car exports and tight vessel availability.
Clarksons said this alone surpassed total car carrier orders placed by Chinese owners pre-2022 and accounted for 8% of total Chinese orders in gt terms.
Meanwhile, container ship ordering by Chinese owners remained firm last year at 3.9m-gt, some 30% of total Chinese tonnage ordered, but fell by around 50% from 2021’s record as market conditions dropped back.
Clarksons said another clear theme of Chinese newbuilding orders in 2022 was increased ordering of alternative-fuel capable units.
“Chinese owners ordered 75 ships of 7.3m-gt last year that were alternative-fuel capable, 57% of the total in gross tonnes, similar to 60% globally and up from 5% in 2021,” the broker said.
“Some 33% of the total will be LNG-capable, including all LNG and car carrier units ordered, while 24% will be capable of using other alternative fuels, including an order for 12 methanol-capable 24,000-teu container ships from the China Cosco Shipping group.”
