China Still No. 1 in Terms of Jan.- Sept. Performance

A Suezmax tanker

Korean shipbuilders beat their Chinese rivals in order intake in September, remaining at the top spot for the third consecutive month.

Global shipbuilding orders reached 480,000 CGTs in September with Korea and China accounting for 230,000 CGTs and 240,000 CGTs, respectively, said Clarkson Research, a British shipbuilding and shipping market analysis agency on Oct. 6. However, the figures did not include many of the orders won by shipbuilders of the two countries at the end of September.

At the end of September, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard won two Suezmax tankers and one MR tanker, respectively. When these deals are added, Korea’s order intake increases to 340,000 CGTs. At the end of September, China's COSCO won two Aframax tankers (50,000 CGTs). If this deal is counted, China's September orders will rise to 290,000 CGTs.


In terms of order intake in the third quarter of this year, Korea is ranked first with 1.42 million CGTs, which amounts to 45 percent of the total global shipbuilding orders of 3.19 million CGTs during the period. Russia came in second with 860,000 CGTs (27 percent), followed by China with 830,000 CGTs (26 percent).

However, China recorded 4.83 million CGTs (50 percent) in the January-September period, far ahead of Korea’s 2.62 million CGTs (27 percent).

While Korean shipbuilders have remained at the top spot for three consecutive months, a shipbuilding slump continued due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Global shipbuilding orders from January to September amounted to 9.75 million CGTs, which is only half of the 20.03 million CGTs recorded in the same period of 2019.

The global order backlog is also the lowest since December 2003. At the end of September, it fell by 1.77 million CGTs to 68.06 million CGTs from the end of August, showing a steady decline since 80.82 million CGTs in January 2020.

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