Korea adds to lead over China as top shipbuilder

Korea widened its lead in shipbuilding orders over China in August, cementing its status as the world’s top shipbuilding nation, a London-based market researcher said yesterday.
Korean shipbuilders such as Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. received a combined 22.1 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) in new orders in August, 3.1 million CGTs more than those won by Chinese rivals, Clarkson Research Studies said. Korean shipyards clinched 18.9 million CGTs in July and 15.3 million CGTs in June, which were 2.6 million CGTs and 1.5 million CGTs more than the new orders received by Chinese companies, respectively.
In the January to April period, China overtook Korea in shipbuilding orders, but Seoul reclaimed the top in May by obtaining 11.7 million CGTs. According to the market researcher, Korea recorded the largest order backlog of 58.8 million CGTs in the January to August period, followed by China with 44.3 million CGTs and Japan with 30.5 million CGTs. In terms of order backlogs, six Korean companies were among the world’s top 10 shipyards, with four Chinese shipbuilders holding the other spots, Clarkson said.

Source:JoongAng Daily