Review and prospect of world shipbuilding industry in 2022

2. Bulk carriers: The new shipbuilding market remains at a historically low level

New bulk carrier orders saw a significant rebound in 2021, but returned to 2020 levels again in 2022. In 2022, global bulk carrier orders reached 20.86 million DWT, down 59.1% from 2021; Shipbuilding completions were 28.89 million DWT, down 24.3 per cent year-on-year, as shown in Figure 4. Due to the slowdown in demand, the recovery of the supply chain, the impact of the epidemic, global inflation and other uncertainties continue to affect the global economy, bulk carrier orders in 2022 performance is relatively depressed, although in the middle of the year in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the European energy crisis stimulated by the bulk carrier orders to usher in short-term growth, but overall still at a historical low. It is expected that in the future, with the existing ship Energy Efficiency Index (EEXI) and carbon intensity Index (CII) two new environmental regulations coming into effect in January 2023, bulk carrier companies will maintain a positive attitude towards market supply and demand in 2023, and market conditions will have the opportunity to stabilize.

3. Container ships: The container ship market is gradually falling from its peak

Clarkson data shows that as of December 20, 2022, global maritime container trade volume was 201 million TEU in 2022, down 3.2% from 208 million TEU for the whole of 2021, as shown in Figure 5. In addition, overcapacity has also emerged. Global container ship new ship orders for 2022 were approximately 2.58 million TEU, down 40.6% year on year; Shipbuilding completions were 878,000 TEU, down 19.4% year-on-year. From the perspective of development trend, with the continuous changes of the transportation market and the increasing perfection of container technology, the demand for containers in the future will also show diversified and complicated characteristics, and the technical level will show a trend of intelligence and standardization. In terms of ship type, with the decline of shipowners' demand for capacity replacement of large and very large container ships and the impact of anti-globalization and geopolitical conflicts, the global ocean-going international trade has slowed down relatively, and regional trade in North America, Asia-Pacific and other regions has increased, and the demand for medium-sized container ships has increased. In addition, the international maritime community represented by IMO has paid increasing attention to Marine environmental protection in recent years, and clean fuel technology for ships and pollutant emission control technology will also become an important topic of technological innovation for container ships in the next stage.

4. Liquefied natural gas vessels: The new shipbuilding market to achieve volume and price

In 2022, the European energy crisis has driven an exponential increase in LNG carrier demand. With the surge in seaborne LNG demand, European countries have increased LNG floating storage, reducing the available capacity in the market. Globally, orders for the production of LNG vessels have increased sharply. Clarkson data show that the 2022 LNG carrier new ship price index increased from 158.18 points to 175.07 points (see Figure 6), a cumulative increase of 10.7%. New ship orders have doubled, and the volume of new ships in 2022 totaled 168 and 28.63 million m3, an increase of 93.1% and 112.3% over the whole year of 2021, respectively, which is the highest transaction level in history. In terms of contracted shipyards, new ship orders are mainly undertaken by Chinese and South Korean ship companies, and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, Hudong Zhonghua, and Hyundai Heavy Industries have undertaken more than 90% of global LNG ship orders. At present, the demand for natural gas in emerging economies is strong, the global demand for natural gas continues to increase, and the energy reform combined with the requirements of carbon emission reduction policies has boosted the LNG seagoing volume into a long-term incremental era. Looking ahead to 2023, it is expected that the LNG shipping market and construction market will remain hot.

5. Luxury cruise: The cruise industry has fallen to the freezing point under the impact of the epidemic

The development of the cruise industry is closely related to the transportation industry and tourism industry, and the cruise industry has been hit hard during the global coronavirus spread, with major global cruise markets such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Italy and Canada all experiencing huge losses. From the perspective of the shipbuilding market, there are 6 cruise orders and 320,000 revised gross tons in 2022, which is basically the same as that in 2021, which is a large gap from the historical high in 2019; From the hand orders of shipyards, 65 cruise ships are expected to be delivered in the next five years, of which 26 are expected to be delivered in 2023 (see Figure 7). By the end of 2021, European coastal countries have opened or limited open cruise access, Japan, Singapore, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, India, Indonesia and other countries and regions in Asia have opened cruise navigation to varying degrees, in addition, most of the North and South America and African countries have opened cruise access. It is expected that in the future, with the gradual stabilization of the global epidemic, the cruise industry will usher in a full recovery.