South Korea's Shipbuilding Industry Ranks No.1 Worldwide for 3 Consecutive Years... Secures 43% of Order Volume

High-Value-Added Ship Orders Surge in Second Half... Surpassing China

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] South Korea's shipbuilding industry has ranked first in the world for ship orders for three consecutive years.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 5th, Clarkson Research, a UK-based shipbuilding and shipping analysis firm, compiled last year's ship order performance by country. Out of a total global ship order volume of 19.24 million CGT, South Korea secured 8.19 million CGT (42.6%), ranking first worldwide.

As a result, South Korea's shipbuilding industry has maintained the top position in global order performance for three consecutive years since 2018.

In the first half of the year, South Korea's order volume was 1.35 million CGT, trailing China (4.08 million CGT), but in the second half, it secured 6.84 million CGT, surpassing China’s 3.85 million CGT.

In particular, in December last year, South Korea showed a strong competitive edge in high value-added ship types.

South Korea secured all 21 large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers (174k㎥ or more), all 6 ultra-large crude carriers (VLCC, 200,000 DWT or more), and 10 out of 16 large container ships (12,000 TEU or more), accounting for 100%, 100%, and 62.5% respectively.

An official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy evaluated, "Despite sluggish global orders due to increased uncertainty from the spread of COVID-19, our industry achieved these results through the technology and quality demonstrated in high value-added ship types such as LNG carriers, ultra-large container ships, and VLCCs."

He added, "We will continue to support securing the future competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry by helping our shipbuilders respond to paradigm shifts such as eco-friendliness and smartization, maintaining leadership in future markets with autonomous ships, eco-friendly ships, and smart Korean-style yards."

According to Clarkson's data, China ranked second last year with 7.93 million CGT in orders. Japan was third with 1.37 million CGT, and Russia was fourth with 950,000 CGT.

Clarkson forecasts that global ship orders this year will increase by 23.7% from last year to reach 23.8 million CGT. By ship type, LNG carriers are expected to account for 3.2 million CGT and container ships for 6.3 million CGT in order volume.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.