South Korean shipbuilders, led by industry leader Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., have secured the largest amount of new orders in the first six months of the year to retain the top slot, while the global shipbuilding industry saw new orders halve, the data compiled by global researcher Clarkson Research Services showed.
The new shipbuilding orders around the globe in the first half of this year amounted to 13.28 million compensated gross tons (CGTs). The figure is about 49.2 percent from 26.99 million CGTs a year ago. In the past year, the global shipbuilding industry saw new orders halve.
During the cited period, South Korean shipyards clinched new orders totaling 5.92 CGTs. The figure is about the 96.1 percent level of 6.16 million CGTs tallied a year earlier. Even though the world's ship orders commissioned shrank to a half, Korea’s shipbuilding industry took in almost the same level as last year's.
Japanese rivals relegated Chinese rivals to the second spot as they received orders worth 2.68 million CGTs through June. Chinese shipyards secured new orders worth 2.56 million CGTs.
It was largely due to an abrupt fall in orders for bulk carriers, China’s major product. In fact, new bulk carrier orders in the global market in the first half of this year amounted to 55 units or 930,000 CGTs, which is a twelfth of 585 units or 11.62 million CGTs a year ago.
It is the first time in 10 years for Japan to overtake China in half-year new orders. As of end-June, China maintained its top position in terms of order backlog totaling 40.96 million CGTs, followed by South Korea with 32.8 million CGTs and Japan with 19.69 million CGTs, according to the data.