Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co.’s LNG carrier. (image: Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co.)
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean shipbuilders have bagged over 80 percent of new orders placed around the globe this year to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, industry data showed Tuesday.
According to the data, Korean shipyards clinched new orders to build 56 LNG carriers in total, which is 86 percent of total new orders placed globally so far this year to construct 65 such ships.
By shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s top shipyard, has clinched deals to build 25 LNG ships this year. The comparable figures for Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. are 14 and 17.
Driven by such a sharp rise in new LNG ship orders, the country’s major shipbuilders have almost met their annual order target for the year.
Hyundai Heavy has bagged orders valued at a combined US$13.4 billion, already surpassing this year’s order target of $13.2 billion.
Daewoo Shipbuilding also achieved over 90 percent of its annual order goal of $7.3 billion and Samsung Heavy met some 67 percent of its annual order target of $8.2 billion.
Demand for LNG carriers has been on a steady increase due to a rise in LNG demand in line with eco-friendly policies in China and the proactive push for energy exports by the United States.
Park Moo-hyun, an analyst at Hana Financial Investment Corp., said the price of a LNG carrier will rise to some $250 million in a year, a sharp increase from the $187 million level seen earlier this year.
(Yonhap)
