Korean shipyards dislodge Chinese rivals for top spot in July orders

South Korean shipbuilders received 12 new orders amounting to 500,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) in July to their Chinese rivals for the No. 1 ranking in new shipping orders for the first time this year.

The 500,000 GCT accounted for 74 percent of the global new orders totaling 680,000 CGTs, last month.

Chinese shipbuilders' new orders totaled 140,000 CGTs with 24 ships, followed by Japanese shipbuilders with 30,000 CGTs with one ship.

Global orders for new ships in the January-July period amounted to 6.61 million CGTs, down nearly 60 percent from the same period last year, with the Chinese taking 3.74 million CGTs, 57 percent of the total, for 164 ships.

South Korean shipbuilders came in second with 1.68 million CGTs for 49 ships, and Japanese ones with 680,000 CGTs for 43 ships.

The sharp drop in new shipbuilding orders was due to curtailed investment caused by the pandemic and a requirement by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to cut carbon dioxide emissions by over 30 percent by 2025 from 2008.