South Korean media: Surge in orders for feeder container ships, China's shipyards begin to show dominant position!
On October 22, South Korean media "Today Energy" published an article stating that this year, feeder container ships have become the new focus of the global shipbuilding market. Although the total number of new ship orders has declined, the number of orders for container ships with a capacity of less than 5,000 TEU has significantly increased due to the growth in global freight volume and the demand for replacing old ships.
Data from the UK research company Clarkson Research shows that the number of orders for container ships with a capacity of less than 5,000 TEU has reached 192 vessels this year, more than doubling compared to last year. Notably, 168 of these orders went to Chinese shipyards, highlighting China's dominant position in the market through price competitiveness and large-scale production capacity.
At the same time, South Korean and Japanese shipyards only received a small number of orders. A South Korean industry insider explained, "Feeder ships have lower added value compared to large LNG ships and container ships, so South Korean shipyards are not actively pursuing these ship types. Chinese companies have actually monopolized the market."
The U.S. "MASGA (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again)" plan is also targeting the feeder ship market. The recent increase in orders is also due to the issue of aging ships. Data shows that over the past 20 years, the proportion of ships with a capacity of less than 5,000 TEU has increased by 6.8 percentage points.
By 2030, it is expected that nearly half of the ships with a capacity of less than 4,000 TEU will be replaced. This means that the demand for new feeder container ships will continue to grow over the next five years. Growth in freight volume, especially in Asia, also supports this trend.
Feeder container ships are small vessels in a hub-and-spoke logistics system that connects large container ships and major ports. They sail between small ports that large container ships do not stop at, collecting goods and transporting them to major transshipment ports, or distributing containers unloaded from large ships to nearby ports. These vessels typically have a capacity of 1,000 to 5,000 TEU and are considered a key means of improving the efficiency and connectivity of the global shipping network.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846669757164553/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.