Korean shipbuilders fell behind their Chinese rivals in order intake in October.
Global ship orders in October amounted to 3.41 million CGT, up 19 percent from the same period of 2021, according to Clarkson Research, a British shipbuilding and shipping market analysis agency.
Korea’s order intake totaled 1.43 million CGT (22 ships), ranking second with a market share of 42 percent. China took first place with 1.8 million CGT (32 ships, a 53 percent share). Total global orders from January to October in 2022 reached 34.75 million CGT. Korea accounted for 42 percent with 14.65 million CGT (261 ships) while China took up 46 percent with 15.81 million CGT (570 ships).
“While Korean shipbuilders’ mainstay is LNG carriers, Chinese shipbuilders received increased orders for container ships,” said an industry insider.
At the end of October, the global order backlog stood at 104.7 million CGT, an increase of 860,000 CGT from September. Of this, Korea accounted for 36.75 million CGT (35 percent) and China 44.89 million CGT (43 percent). Korea’s order backlog grew 2 percent month on month and that of China 1 percent. Compared to the same period of 2021, Korea’s order backlog swelled 26 percent and that of China 8 percent.
At the end of October, the Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index stood at 161.96, up 9.68 points from the same period of 2021. Prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, a cash cow for the Korean shipbuilding industry, are still on the uptick. The price of an LNG carrier was US$248 million, up by US$4 million from September.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
