China overtakes Korea

Chinese shipbuilders have caught up with their South Korean rivals in new orders received in the first two months of this year, according to an international market researcher. Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and other Korean shipbuilders won a combined 2 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) in new orders in the January-February period, said Clarkson Research Studies, a division of Clarkson PLC.

New orders at Chinese shipyards totaled 3.8 million CGTs during the two-moth period, which accounted for 48.7% of all new global orders totaling 7.8 million CGTs, Clarkson said.

The figure was sharply up 48.9% from a year earlier, according to the report. Industry experts said rising demand for bulk carriers, mainly used to transport bulk cargo items such as ore or food staples, has helped Chinese shipyards receive more shipbuilding orders.

However, South Korea maintained its No. 1 ranking in the global shipbuilding industry in order backlogs and the volume of vessels built, Clarkson said. South Korean shipbuilders’ combined order backlogs totaled 42.7 million CGTs as of the end of February, compared with Chinese rivals’ 30.4 million CGTs and Japanese shipbuilders’ 28.1 million CGTs.

Local shipyards, which built one out of every three new vessels in the world last year, constructed 1.5 million CGTs in the first two months of the year, nearly double the Chinese shipyards’ figure of 300,000 CGTs.

Korean shipyards are predicted to see their exports rise 18% to $26 billion this year, boosted by continuous demand for high-end ships and other products.