SMM 2026 opens on 1 September against one of the strongest shipping market backdrops ever seen by the Hamburg trade fair, with the global shipbuilding orderbook now almost one-third larger than when Hamburg Messe last opened its doors to the industry.
According to Clarksons Research, the Clarksea Index has climbed by more than 70% over the past two years to reach $42,710 per day. At the same time, the global orderbook has expanded by 32.6% to 405.5 million GT, with a total value estimated at $666.4 billion.
The implications for the maritime supply chain are significant. Clarksons estimates that around 60% of the value of this orderbook will flow to suppliers as shipyards work through backlogs averaging four years.
Stephen Gordon, managing director of Clarksons Research, said increasing shipyard output could push global production to record levels in 2027. He also identified 2026 as a 50-year high for VLCC orders, a record year for VLGC orders and potentially another record-breaking year for container ship orders.
China reshapes the global shipbuilding landscape
While global shipbuilding activity is reaching new heights, European yards are unlikely to break records in terms of vessel numbers or overall production volumes.
For an exhibition located at the heart of Europe’s shipping industry, China’s growing dominance in shipbuilding remains impossible to ignore.
China increased its shipbuilding output by a further 10% in 2025 and accounted for more than half of global tonnage, according to figures highlighted by Gordon. Since SMM 2010, Chinese shipbuilding output has risen by 39%, while production across the rest of the world has declined by 38%.
China also represents the largest share of international participation at SMM, according to organiser Hamburg Messe und Congress, with the country’s presence expanding further in 2026.
Europe’s era of competing directly with China and the wider Asian shipbuilding industry on sheer production volume is effectively over. However, European yards continue to hold important advantages in complex and high-value vessel segments.
Cruise ship construction is one of the clearest examples. European shipyards currently account for 96% of the sector’s global orderbook, valued at $72 billion.
The battle is increasingly about industrial value
For European equipment manufacturers and technology providers attending SMM, the central question is no longer simply where ships are built.
The more important issue is whether European companies can maintain their share of the value generated by those ships, regardless of the location of the shipyard.
In China, imports of major equipment, including marine engines, have increasingly evolved into licensing arrangements that allow equipment to be manufactured locally. For European companies competing in a global market, this creates difficult strategic decisions over where production should be located.
Those decisions have consequences for profitability, long-term competitiveness and the future of domestic industrial capacity.
The issue is also drawing growing attention from European policymakers.
SMM 2026 is the first edition of the exhibition to take place since the publication of the European Commission’s EU Industrial Maritime Strategy. The European Council has also raised concerns about trade distortion and unfair subsidisation in third countries that could affect EU industry, calling for research into measures aimed at protecting European industries from unfair competition.
The tension between protecting European industrial capabilities and maintaining relations with the world’s largest shipbuilding nation will form an important backdrop to the China-Europe Maritime Summit at SMM.
The event will be hosted by DNV, the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) and the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI).
Innovation remains Europe’s key advantage
Despite the competitive pressure, Europe’s equipment manufacturers and technology providers continue to rely on innovation to maintain their relevance in the global shipbuilding ecosystem.
Their expertise in digitalisation, decarbonisation and vessel efficiency is closely aligned with the direction of the shipping industry.
SMM will once again serve as a major showcase for these developments, with exhibition previews highlighting progress in artificial intelligence applications, alternative fuels, energy storage, propulsion technologies and robotics.
For many exhibitors, the timing of SMM 2026 could hardly be stronger. A $666.4 billion orderbook and buoyant shipping markets provide substantial opportunities for suppliers across the industry.
However, strong demand does not automatically guarantee where the long-term value of the next shipbuilding cycle will be captured.
As the industry prepares for the ships of the future, the question facing suppliers is increasingly strategic: where will the technology, expertise and industrial capability behind those vessels ultimately reside?
