This file photo shows the Okpo Shipyard of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) on Geoje Island, about 470 kilometers southeast of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea recaptured the No. 1 spot in global shipbuilding orders in February, industry data showed Tuesday, thanks to its dominance in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier market.
Local shipyards won orders totaling 1.56 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) to build 34 ships, accounting for 74 percent of the global total of 2.1 million CGTs, according to London-based Clarkson Research Services Ltd.
The world total was down 25 percent from a year earlier.
China, which far outpaced South Korea in January, clinched orders for 170,000 CGTs, or nine ships, last month. It took up a mere 9 percent of the world total.
In terms of order backlog, China topped the list with 49.01 million CGTs, or 45 percent of the global total at 100.13 million CGTs as of end-February, which was down 530,000 CGTs from the prior month.
South Korea came second with 38.63 million CGTs, which was up 11 percent from a month earlier.
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 ago.
(Yonhap)
