Sweeps 70% of Global Orders Placed for Past 2 Months
Clarkson Research reported on Dec. 27 that South Korean shipbuilders are retaining their global top spot in terms of shipbuilding order volume for the third consecutive year.
The order intake of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries since Nov. 1 this year is 85 vessels (US$11.3 billion), more than 70 percent of the global orders placed in that period.
As of Dec. 21, the volume was 6.61 million CGT and those of their Chinese and Japanese counterparts were 7.23 million CGT and 1.38 million CGT, respectively. The three shipbuilders increased their volume by at least 1.5 million CGT from Dec. 22 to 24, when they signed contracts for 17 LNG carriers and so on and Chinese shipbuilders’ LNG carrier contract was zero.
The South Korean companies’ rapid performance improvement in the second half has been led by high value-added vessels such as LNG vessels and very large container carriers (VLCCs). This year, a total of 63 orders were placed for LNG ships and Hyundai, Samsung and Daewoo won 21, 19 and six, respectively. China’s and Japan’s track records are five and zero, respectively.
Likewise, Hyundai and Daewoo clinched 27 and seven out of this year’s 42 VLCC contracts worldwide while China and Japan won five and one, respectively. In the container carrier segment, the South Korean companies’ order attainment for 12,000 TEU or more is currently 18, four more than that of Chinese shipbuilders.