Korea wins half of worlds shipbuilding orders

South Korean yards won half of the world’s shipbuilding orders in the first half of this year, strengthening the country’s dominance in the industry the government said. The country’s shipbuilding yards secured orders for 12.40 million compensated gross tons, or 50.6% of the world total. It said overall global demand fell sharply compared to 2007 but the proportion of orders won by local companies increased.

In 2007 South Korea secured 38.9% of all orders placed against 37.3% for its main rival China. In the first half China’s share dipped to 34.3%. Local experts quoted by Yonhap news agency said many shipping companies that wanted to place orders with Korean yards had turned to China in the past, because of huge backlogs in Korea, but had started to return to Korea with the general drop in order volume.

It has been the world’s top shipbuilder since 2003 and is home to the world’s five largest yards, led by Hyundai Heavy Industries.