In a drought order... Korea's shipbuilding industry ranks first in world ship orders for two consecutive months

With the resumption of orders for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships and extra-large ethane carriers (VLECs), Korea took the top spot in global ship orders for the second consecutive month.

According to Clarkson Research, an analysis agency for shipbuilding and shipping markets in the UK on the 8th, last month, global ship orders were 860,000 CGT (standard cargo conversion tonnage), 36 vessels, of which Korea received 73% of orders for 630,000 CGT and 23 vessels.

China, second place (210,000 CGT, 12 vessels), only collected 24% of the total.

World ship orders this year have shrunk to less than half of the same period last year due to the aftermath of Corona 19.

The cumulative total of global orders from January to August was 8.12 million CGT, down 54% from the same period last year (17.47 million CGT).

By ship type, orders for ultra-large tankers (VLCC) dropped 41% compared to the same period last year, as well as A-Max tankers (-42%), bulk carriers (-79%), and large LNG carriers (140,000㎥ or more) (- 70%) and so on.

Containerships declined 11%, and S-Max tankers were the same as last year.

At the end of August, the global order backlog was 69.19 million CGT, down 1% from a month ago.

This is the lowest since it recorded 68.68 million CGT in January 2004.

China (-450,000 CGT), Japan (-170,000 CGT), and Korea (-20,000 CGT) decreased in that order.

Compared to the same period of the previous year, Japan (-477 million CGT·-34%), China (-303 million CGT·-11%), and Korea (-205 million CGT·-10%) were the largest in that order.

The order backlog by country is 25.47 million CGT in China (37%), 19.15 million CGT in Korea (28%), and 9.34 million CGT in Japan (14%).

The Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index for August was 127 points, up 1 point from last month.

The trend of ship prices by ship type is the same for LNG carriers (174,000㎥), container ships and bulk carriers, but VLCC, S-max tankers, and A-max tankers declined slightly.

An official from the shipbuilding industry said, "Korea experienced a severe order cliff in the first half of the year, but orders for gas ships such as LNG carriers and VLECs, which are flagship ships, resumed after June, and orders are gradually increasing." We expect the project order to take place in earnest.”