Korea regains top shipbuilding spot from China in February

A liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered container vessel built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries [KOREA SHIPBUILDING & OFFSHORE ENGINEERING]

Korea regained the top spot in shipbuilding orders in February, beating archrival China and with 74 percent of the global orders, industry data showed Tuesday.

According to data by UK-based global market researcher Clarkson Research Services on Tuesday, worldwide shipbuilding orders in February were 2.1 million compensated gross tonnages (CGTs) for 58 vessels.

Total global orders continued to decline, down by 2 percent from the previous month and 25 percent on year.

Korea ranked first as it clinched orders totaling 1.56 million CGTs, or 74 percent of the global orders, with 34 vessels. That is nine times larger than China, winning orders for 170,000 CGTs and nine vessels. Japan won 200,000 CGTs of orders for nine vessels.

The majors of Korean shipbuilders have been busy so far this year with high value-added ship deals, with HD Hyundai at the forefront. Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) has won $6.11 billion of orders this year for 44 vessels, meeting 38.8 percent of its new target order for this year in less than one quarter. The corresponding figure for Samsung Heavy Industries is $2 billion, or 21 percent of its annual target. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) managed to bag the first LNG carrier order in 2023, a 314.5 billion-won deal ($241.18 million), which is 3.5 percent of its new order target.

Korea retained the top place from China for the first time in seven months.

In terms of order backlog as of end-February, China topped the list with 49.01 million CGTs, or 45 percent of the global total, followed by Korea, with 38.63 million CGTs and 35 percent of the total. The order backlog of China was up 11 percent compared to the same period last year, while that of Korea was up 21 percent.

Clarkson's Newbuilding Price Index, a barometer of price changes in newly built ships, amounted to 163.69 points last month, up 8.96 points from a year.

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