S. Korean shipbuilders 56% of new orders in Feb.

South Korean shipbuilders won new orders of 43 ships or 1.56 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) to account for 56 percent of new orders in the global shipbuilding market in February.

There were 92 ships or 2.82 million CGTs ordered globally in February, according to global market researcher Clarkson Research Service.

The new orders bagged by the South Korean shipyards include and 13 container carriers that are over 12,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), seven very large crude carriers, and five A-Max oil tankers.

The performance allowed South Korean shipbuilders to surpass their Chinese rivals for the eighth consecutive month.

Chinese shipbuilders got new orders of 1.12 million CGTs, accounting for 40 percent, while Japanese shipbuilders received 60,000 CGTs or 2 percent.

Global order backlogs jumped by one percent or 780,000 CGTs to 71.06 million CGTs in February from January.

Order backlogs by Chinese shipbuilders reached 25.70 million CGTs, or 36 percent of the total, trailed by South Koreans with 22.47 million CGTs and Japanese shipbuilders with 7.97 million CGTs.

Price changes in newly-built ships were up one point to 128 points in February, rising for the third consecutive month, based on Clarkson's Newbuilding Price Index.