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September 10, 2008
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| Korean yards have won half of the world’s shipbuilding orders in the first half of this year, strengthening the country’s dominance in the key industry, the government said yesterday. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the shipbuilding industry said yards secured orders for 12.4 million compensated gross tons, or 50.6 percent of the total placed around the world. It said that while overall global demand had fallen off sharply this year compared to 2007, the proportion of orders won by local companies grew. “Although the total tonnage won by local yards has dropped by 20 percent annually, Korea is the only country whose share of orders won has moved up,” said a official. In 2007, Korea secured 38.9 percent of all orders placed, versus 37.3 percent for China, its main rival. In the first half, Chinese shares dipped to 34.3 percent or 8.40 million CGTs. Other shipbuilding powers like Europe and Japan saw order shares falling from 8.0 percent and 8.5 percent for the whole of last year to 5.7 and 3.7 percent in the first half. Local experts have said many shipping companies that wanted to place orders with Korean yards had turned to China in the past, because of huge backlogs. These companies have started to return with the general drop in order volume this year. Shipbuilding is one of the top five export industries for Korea, with the total reaching $27.68 billion last year. Korea has been the No. 1 shipbuilder since 2003, controlling 35-40 percent of the market share. It is home to the world’s five largest yards led by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. Meanwhile, STX Shipbuilding Co., the owner of Europe’s largest shipyard, said yesterday that it has won a deal valued at 699 billion won ($636 million) to build four oil tankers. The deal calls on STX Shipbuilding to deliver the vessels by April 2012 to A.P. Moller-Maersk S/A of Denmark, the company said in a statement. Under the contract, the Korean shipyard also has the option to build four more so-called very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, which will boost the value of the deal to $1.3 billion, it said. STX Shipbuilding has won deals valued at $6 billion so far this year to build 73 ships, accounting for 82 percent of the $7.3 billion it won in 2007. Yonhap |
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