Korean Shipbuilders Lag Behind Chinese Ship Orders

Korean shipbuilders lagged far behind their Chinese rivals in terms of taking shipbuilding orders in September.

According to British shipbuilding and shipping market analyst Clarkson Research, global shipbuilding orders totaled 2.89 million CGT (90 units) in September, down 25 percent from a year earlier.

China topped the standings with orders for 2.48 million CGT (65 ships), posting an 86 percent share, followed by Korea with orders of 340,000 CGT (14 ships), accounting for a 12 percent share.

As of the end of September, the world’s shipbuilding order backlog stood at 149.22 million CGT, up by 2.22 million CGT from August.

Of the total, China accounted for 55 percent at 82.79 million CGT and Korea 26 percent at 38.21 million CGT.

The Clarkson Newbuilding Index continued to trend upwards at 189.96. This was up by 8 percent from a year ago and 50 percent from September 2020.

By vessel type, the price per unit was $261.5 million for liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers of 174,000 m³ or bigger, $129 million for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and $273.5 million for very large container ships.