Korea loses out to China again in new ship orders in June

A LNG vessel is built in a shipyard. [Photo by Yonhap]

The shipbuilding orders garnered by the Korean shipbuilding industry once again fell significantly behind its competitor China last month.

According to Clarkson Research Services, Britain’s shipbuilding industry tracker, on Friday, global shipbuilding orders last month amounted to 2.76 million compensated gross tons (CGT), or 95 vessels, marking a 49 percent decrease compared to a year ago.

Among these orders, South Korea secured 380,000 CGT or 14 percent, ranking second, but it showed a significant gap compared with China, which claimed the top spot with 2.2 million CGT or 80 percent. In terms of the number of vessels, Korea and China secured 10 and 71 vessels, respectively.

Cumulative shipbuilding orders for the first half of this year totaled 17.81 million CGT or 678 vessels, indicating a 34 percent decrease versus a year ago. South Korea won new orders of 5.16 million CGT, while China 10.43 million CGT.

“Korean shipbuilding companies, which have already secured orders for the next three years, have filled their docks to full capacity, resulting in an increase in orders for Chinese competitors,” said an industry insider.

As of the end of June, the global order backlog stood at 1.14 million CGT, up by 70,000 CGT compared to the previous month. China accounted for 53.15 million CGT, followed by Korea with 38.8 million CGT.

The Clarksons Newbuilding Price Index recorded 170.91 points, up 9.38 points from a year ago.

The price for a single vessel varied by ship type, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with a capacity of over 174,000 cubic meters priced at $260 million, very large crude carriers (VLCC) at $126 million, and ultra-large container ships at $225 million.