Global Shipbuilding Market Report: 2011 Edition

The global economic crisis has severely affected shipbuilding industry. However, with its capacity and experience, the industry is capable of surviving over the peaks and slumps of the economy. This is evident from the fact that while the global shipbuilding market suffered steep decline in new shipbuilding orders for two consecutive years spanning 2008 to 2009, a remarkable revival in new orders was witnessed in 2010 following the global economic recovery. Further, with the reported increase in oil demand, stronger availability of financial support and continuously improving economic fundamentals, the market for shipbuilding is forecasted to increase at a CAGR of 22.7% (in terms of dwt) during 2011-2013.

After the European dominance during the middle of the last century, first Japan and then Korea took the lead and finally giving way to the Chinese dominance in global shipbuilding industry. Presently, China accounts for the largest market share in all major global shipbuilding activities. India, Vietnam, Brazil, and Philippines are the other emerging shipbuilding nations striving to compete for a share in the global market, while at the same time providing opportunities for the existing leading shipbuilding nations. Of the various vessels manufactured in the global shipbuilding market, bulk carriers, tankers, and containerships form the major categories.

Environmental issues are being treated with concern and priority by the shipping industry. Companies all across the globe are focusing on building eco-friendly ships that are more efficient and comply with environmental regulations to reduce carbon emissions. The catalysts of the global shipbuilding market include primarily the economic growth, oil demand, and seaborne trade. The generally ascending world oil demand and seaborne international trade keeps the shipbuilding industry on a growth path. In addition, the greater availability of finance for shipbuilding is another major driving factor, generating demand for more ships. However, the underutilized capacity of shipyards and increasing delivery deferments pose a serious challenge for the shipbuilding industry worldwide.

The global shipbuilding market is characterized by intense competition which is influenced by factors such as productivity and production range of shipyards, technical advancement, and the level of worker's skill and competence, among others. The largest shipbuilding companies in terms of capacity are Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, and Samsung Heavy Industries, also referred to as Korean Big-3.

The report analyzes the global shipbuilding market with focus on Europe, Korea, Japan and China. It also discusses the major growth drivers and challenges for the shipbuilding market. The report presents the competitive structure of the industry and profiles major players with a discussion of their key business strategies.

By combining SPSS Inc.’s data integration and analysis capabilities with our relevant findings, we have predicted the future growth of the industry. We employed various significant variables that have an impact on this industry and created regression models with SPSS Base to determine the future direction of the industry. Before deploying the regression model, the relationship between several independent or predictor variables and the dependent variable was analyzed using standard SPSS output, including charts, tables and tests.