Korean shipbuilders No. 2 to China in terms of January orders

A LNG carrier built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) [DAEWOO SHIPBUILDING & MARINE ENGINEERING]

Korean shipbuilders fell far behind the Chinese competition in winning vessel orders in January amid shrinking global demand, industry data showed Tuesday.

According Clarkson Research on Tuesday, local shipyards clinched 640,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) in new orders for 12 vessels last month, 33 percent of the total global orders of 1.96 million CGTs.

Chinese shipbuilders garnered nearly double of Korea’s, winning orders for 1.12 million CGTs for 72 new ships, 57 percent of the global total.

Cumulative global demand in January fell 63 percent compared to the same month last year.

Global order backlogs came to 9.13 million CGTs at the end of January, down 770,000 CGTs from the previous month. Korea's order backlog stood at 37.58 million CGTs, or 34 percent of the total, expanding by 380,000 CGTs (1 percent) from a month earlier. For China, it was 49.19 million CGTs, up 30,000 CGTs (0.06 percent) over the cited period.

Clarkson's Newbuilding Price Index, a barometer of price changes in newly built ships, stood at 162.51 as of the end of January, up 8.25 points from a year earlier, according to the data.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]