South Korean names swept up nearly nine out of 10 new vessel orders placed worldwide in October, retaining world’s No. 1 rank in shipbuilding.

Korean shipbuilders in October bagged combined 17 contracts in 1.29 million-compensated gross tonnage (CGT), according to British shipbuilding and marine industry tracker Clarkson Research Services on Tuesday. The contracts were worth $2.6 billion in total.

Thanks to the stellar performance, Korea claimed the global No. 1 shipbuilding country by both order volume and value. The country has been the world’s No.1 since August in terms of order value but stayed behind China in quantity

It is the first time for Korea’s shipbuilding orders to exceed 1 million CGT on a monthly basis. Compared to October 2018, order volume increased more than fourfold and value more than threefold.

Korean shipyards accounted for the lion’s share with 86.0 percent of worldwide total 1.50 million CGT contracts. They secured all high-value-added ship orders – four units of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, one very large crude carrier (VLCC), and 11 very large container carriers plus one liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker.

Korea also topped the global shipbuilding market based on the cumulative new order value from January to October this year with $15.97 billion. No. 2 was China with $13.67 billion, followed by Italy with $7.47 billion and Japan with $4.49 billion.

Order volume for the same period came at 6.95 million CGT for Korea, plunging 35.2 percent compared to the same period last year amid slowing global demand but the country’s total order outnumbered that of China, which recorded 6.11 million CGT. No. 3 for the 10-month period was Japan with 2.93 million CGT. Italy came as fourth with 1.14 million CGT.

Korean shipbuilders won 32 LNG tanker contracts out of world’s 35 orders, 13 out of 21 global VLCC orders, and 16 out of total 26 very large container carrier deals placed in January-October. Those high-value-added orders that Korean shipyards did not win went to China and Japan for their own market.

Korea’s order backlog as of October stood at 21.32 million CGT, coming second after China with 26.42 million CGT. Japan came third at 11.91 million CGT and Italy the fourth at 4.17 million CGT.

Industry experts anticipate Korean shipbuilders to secure more deals in coming months as big LNG projects across the world, including Qatar, Mozambique, Nigeria, are scheduled. Also, global demand for high-value-added vessels have been growing with adoption of tougher environmental protection rules, which would work favorable for Korean shipbuilders with strength in such types, said an expert.

By Pulse

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