Shipbuilding Rebound Due in 2014

According to a report on Yonhap News, South Korea's shipbuilding industry will possibly start to turnaround  in 2014.

The news agency cited findings from the BOK report forecast that the SBI (the shipbuilding business index) will rise to 98.87 points and 98.89 points in the first and second quarters of 2014, respectively, after hitting 98.85 points, the lowest in the past several years, in the last three months of 2013.

The global shipbuilding market has contracted gradually since 2007, when the shipbuilding business index (SBI) reached 103.21 points.  According to the news agency, SBI is a measure of shipbuilding demand, shipping business sentiment, global trading volume and several other factors affecting the shipbuilding industry developed by the Bank of Korea.

South Korean shipbuilders won 93.4 million CGTs in 2007, with comparable figures plummeting to 54.2 million CGTs in 2008, 16.4 million CGTs in 2009, 44.4 million CGTs in 2010 and 31.7 million CGTs in 2011.

South Korea continued to lead the world's shipbuilding market in the first quarter of this year by winning orders for 60 ships worth $7.9b. Global orders for new ships plunged 58.9 percent on-year to 199 vessels up until March.

 (Source: Yonhap News)