Chinese shipowners reduced newbuilding orders by almost 50% year-on-year in January–July 2025 but remained the world’s largest ordering nation, according to BRS.
The slowdown took place as global dry bulk contracting also fell sharply, with both total orders and tonnage significantly lower than in the previous year.
BRS reported that tanker newbuilding weakened, with owners placing 88 tankers of at least 34,000 dwt in the first seven months of 2025.
This figure is well below the five-year and ten-year averages. The majority of orders were for Suezmax tankers, while overall activity was described as a “rational pause” following the surge of 2023–2024.
China continued to dominate new ship orders by market share in 2025, even though volumes fell compared with last year’s exceptionally high levels. Available data show that Chinese shipyards still lead global intake for the period, although the number of contracts and compensated gross tonnage declined significantly year-on-year.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative has adopted a schedule of maritime service fees for Chinese-built and certain Chinese-owned or operated vessels. The first assessments are set for mid-October 2025. BRS noted that the decline in orders is not strongly related to these U.S. measures but instead reflects the exceptionally high order volume placed in 2024.
BRS Shipbrokers (Barry Rogliano Salles) is a private French shipbroking group established in 1856 and headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. It operates internationally with offices in more than 20 locations, providing brokerage, market analysis, research and advisory services across multiple shipping segments.