In October, global new ship orders totaled 136 vessels with a combined deadweight tonnage of 10.48 million tons. New orders continued to rise compared to September, increasing by 14.5% month-on-month in terms of deadweight tonnage. Among October's new orders, oil tankers accounted for the largest share at 40% by deadweight tonnage, followed by bulk carriers at 26%. China once again led the global newbuilding market in October, securing 80.8% of global orders by deadweight tonnage.
New Order Volume Rises Month-on-Month
In October, global new ship orders totaled 136 vessels with a deadweight tonnage of 10.48 million, representing year-on-year increases of 60.0% and 81.3%, respectively. Compared to September, orders decreased by 11.7% in volume but increased by 14.5% in deadweight tonnage. Global ship completions and deliveries totaled 140 vessels with 8 million dwt, up 0.7% and 5.8% year-on-year, respectively. By the end of October, the global ship order backlog stood at 6,274 vessels with 403 million dwt, increasing 9.9% and 12.5% year-on-year, respectively.
Tanker Orders Surge Significantly; Gas Carrier Market Relatively Sluggish
Regarding container ships, Clarkson data shows that in October, global new ship orders totaled 18 vessels with a deadweight tonnage of 1.03 million tons, down 80.3% year-on-year. Among these, 10 were feeder container ships, 3 were small container ships, and the remaining 5 were medium-sized container ships. For bulk carriers, global newbuild orders in October totaled 32 vessels with a deadweight tonnage of 2.74 million, a 20.7% increase year-on-year. Among these, 29 were Panamax bulk carriers, while the remaining 3 were Capesize bulk carriers. For oil tankers, 18 newbuild orders totaling 4.17 million dwt were placed globally in October, marking a 26.0% year-on-year increase. This included 3 small product tankers, 3 Suezmax crude tankers, and 12 VLCCs. No new orders were placed for gas carriers in October. For other vessel types, shipyards including Dalian COSCO SHIP Heavy Industry and Jiangmen Nanyang Shipbuilding secured orders for 31 open-hatch carriers totaling 2.28 million dwt, forming the main component of orders for other vessel types.
As of October 2025, the Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index closed at 185 points, continuing its decline from September and falling 2.5% year-on-year. Among major vessel types, the Clarkson Newbuilding Price Indexes for bulk carriers, tankers, container ships, and gas carriers stood at 167 points, 212 points, 116 points, and 199 points respectively. Newbuilding prices for all vessel types saw slight declines compared to September, decreasing by 0.1%, 0.1%, 0.6%, and 0.5% respectively; all vessel types also recorded year-on-year declines, falling by 4.5%, 5.1%, 1.4%, and 4.3% respectively. Among representative vessel types, VLCC newbuilding prices remained stable at $126 million; prices for 23,000 TEU container ships and 174,000 m³ LNG carriers declined to $266.5 million and $248 million, respectively.
China Leads Global Newbuilding Market
In October, Chinese shipyards secured 100 new orders totaling 8.47 million deadweight tons (2.14 million compensated gross tons), capturing an 80.8% global market share by deadweight tonnage to rank first worldwide. South Korean yards secured 9 new orders totaling 1.33 million deadweight tons (520,000 compensated gross tons), holding a 12.7% global market share by deadweight tonnage to rank second. Saudi Arabia secured 370,000 dwt (110,000 CGT) in new orders through IMI Shipyard's 6 Panamax bulk carriers, capturing 4.4% of the global market share by deadweight tonnage and surpassing Japan to rank third globally. Japanese shipyards secured new orders for 4 vessels totaling 300,000 deadweight tons (130,000 compensated gross tons), accounting for a 2.9% global market share by deadweight tonnage and ranking fourth worldwide.
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