Jan 11, 2012

Korean Shipbuilders Reclaim World No. 1 Status

The nation's shipbuilding industry has regained its lead in the global market some three years after it was overtaken by China. Korea grabbed half of the global shipbuilding orders last year and far outpaced China in terms of order value.

According to market researcher Clarkson on Tuesday, the nation's shipbuilders clinched orders totaling 13.55 million compensated gross tons in 2011, compared to China's 9.2 million CGT. 

Global ship orders dropped 30 percent on-year in 2011 due to the sluggish shipping market and liquidity issues. But Korea posted a 7 percent rise in new orders and its market share increased to 48.2 percent, while the volume of orders placed with China almost halved over the same period. Korea's order value stood at $48.16 billion, more than double China's $19.2 billion.

Korean shipbuilders' resurgence can be credited to their migration over to high value-added vessels such as drill ships, liquefied natural gas carriers and large container ships.

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