S. Korean shipyards edge Chinese in order volume for 5th month

South Korean shipyards received new orders totaling 990,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs), covering 60 percent of the 1.64 million CGTs ordered globally in November, to outpace their Chinese rivals for the fifth consecutive month.

The Chinese shipbuilders got 600,000 CGTs, or 37 percent, while third-placer Vietnam had 50,000 CGTs in the month.

Global new shipbuilding orders were limited to 14.47 million CGTs from January to November, sharply dropping from 25.23 million CGTs last year.
In the first eleven months, Chinese shipbuilders topped the number of new orders with 298 ships amounting to 6.67 million CGTs, taking up 46 percent of the total.

South Korea was second with 5.02 million CGTs, or 137 ships, while the Japanese got 1.18 million CGTs for 78 vesels.

Global order backlogs, which had been on a downward path since 80.82 million CGTs in January, slightly rose by 30,000 CGTs, or 1 percent, to 67.84 million CGTs at the end of November from a month earlier.

Order backlogs of South Korean shipbuilders increased by 420,000 CGTs, or 2 percent, for a second month, while those of Chinese and Japanese shipbuilders fell last month.

So far this year, Chinese shipbuilders' order backlogs are at 24.98 million CGTs, or 37 percent of the total, followed by South Korean shipbuilders with 19.36 million CGTs and Japanese shipbuilders with 8.29 million CGTs.