Korea, China split global ship orders in September amid decline in contracts
Hanwha Ocean's shipyard in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province / Korea Times photo by Kim Hyeong-joon
Global ship orders fell sharply in September from a year earlier, with Korea and China dividing the bulk of contracts between them, industry data showed Friday.
According to London-based market tracker Clarkson Research Services, global new shipbuilding orders reached 3.5 million compensated gross tons (CGT), or 123 vessels, last month, down 44 percent from the same month last year.
Korean shipbuilders won orders totaling 1.35 million CGT for 33 ships, accounting for 39 percent of the total. Chinese shipyards took a 40 percent share, with 1.42 million CGT for 69 ships.
The average CGT per vessel stood at 41,000 CGT for Korea and 21,000 CGT for China, indicating that Korean shipbuilders secured roughly twice as many high-value-added ship orders as their Chinese rivals.
As of the end of September, the global order backlog stood at 165.99 million CGT, down 70,000 CGT from the previous month. China held 61 percent of the total, followed by Korea with 20 percent.