South Korean officials are highlighting an uptick in the country’s market share for the newbuilding orders and the potential that they have been able to regain market share from China on the eve of the introduction of the U.S. port fees on Chinese-owned, operated, and built ships. Using data from the UK’s Clarksons, the Ministry of Trade pointed to positive results that have been building in 2025 and a good outlook for the industry.
China’s shipbuilding industry reached approximately three-quarters of global orders in 2024, and despite the trends, China continues to highlight its dominance in the sector. China’s Global Times news outlet cites data from the China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) that shows a 15 percent increase in the share of orders during the country’s last five-year plan (2021-2025) to a level of over 64 percent of the orders up from just under 52 percent of orders at the end of the prior five-year plan in 2020. Moreover, they highlighted accelerated growth from 8.6 percent between 2016 and 2020 up to the 15 percent between 2021 and 2025.
Clarksons set China’s share of the global new orders in 2024 at 74.5 percent. Based on this growth, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office in April released its plan for port fees to counter China’s dominance in shipbuilding and the maritime sector. The U.S. says the Chinese government has implemented unfair business practices, while China calls the U.S. moves “clearly a politically motivated protectionist attempt.” The U.S. begins charging the first round of port fees for vessels arriving starting on October 14.
Citing the nine-month data for 2025 and a strong performance in September, South Korea’s Ministry of Trade asserts some shipowners are now shifting part of their orders to Korean shipyards. “We anticipate that the concentration on China will likely ease further going forward,” MOT asserted in its report.
Clarksons’ data shows a cooling in the global orderbook. Orders in the first nine months were at just under 60 million tons. That is down by half from 2024.
In the most recent quarter, Chinese shipbuilders booked 10.47 million tons, down from 26.93 million a year ago. China had booked 14.96 million tons in the second quarter of 2025.
South Korea, by comparison, booked 4.93 million tons in the most recent quarter. While it is down from the rates of the first two quarters (5.32 million in Q1 and 5.26 million in Q2), it is up significantly from the 4.13 million tons in the fourth quarter of 2024. Korea’s market share, they also note, has doubled in 2025 versus 2024, reaching 25.9 percent, while China is down from 74.5 percent to 58.8 percent.
While overall orders were down 44 percent in September versus last year, China and South Korea were nearly tied for the month. South Korea’s share reached 39 percent while China was down to 40 percent. Korea also highlighted that it secured twice as many high-value new ships ordered compared to China.
Clarksons calculates that the global order backlog stands at nearly 166 million compensated gross tons, with a 70,000-ton addition in September despite the overall slowing in the market. China holds 61 percent of the orderbook (108.6 million CGT) compared to Korea’s 20 percent share (33.81 million CGT).
South Korean officials cited trade uncertainty caused by the U.S. trade policy as contributing to the slowing in the global market. However, they remain confident that as the U.S. moves forward with its efforts against China, they will be able to further reclaim market share lost to China in the past few years.
