South Korea’s shipbuilders remain global leaders

Consulting firm Clarkson Research reported in early March that orders for 92 new ships were placed globally in the previous month. Of these, South Korean shipbuilders secured 43 orders. These include orders for seven large oil tankers and five A-max tankers. For large container ships with more than 12,000 standard containers (TEU), South Korean companies won 13 of 17 tenders. Chinese and Japanese shipbuilders follow in second and third place on the world market.

The gap in market share between South Korea and China increased by 16 percent to 56 percent in February, while China gained only one percentage point from 39 to 40. In compensated gross tonnage (CGT), South Korean companies gained 2.5 million CGT in the first two months of the year while China and Japan remained unchanged at 1.9 million CGT and 0.32 million CGT, respectively.

In the same period, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering won orders for 46 vessels worth US$3.7 billion. This already represents a quarter of the company’s target for this year. Samsung Heavy Industries received orders for 31 vessels worth US$2.4 billion, securing as much as 31 percent of its target for the year. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering was awarded orders for 6 new vessels worth US$600 million, reaching 8 percent of its 2021 target.

Current backlog of open orders worldwide increased by 780,000 CGT to 71.06 million CGT in February. Broken down into the top 3, China accounted for 25.7 million CGT, South Korea 22.47 and Japan 7.97 million CGT. The Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index increased by one index point to 128 points in February. This was the third consecutive month that the indicator rose.

South Korea is considered one of the most important and innovative industrialized nations in the world. In order to gain market access to this highly technological country, products imported into South Korea must be tested and certified. The KC mark or KC certificate is roughly equivalent to the European CE mark and applies to 730 different products. MPR International GmbH has solid experience in Korea certification and competent local partners.

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Julian Busch

About the author: Julian Busch is the founder and managing director of MPR International GmbH

Publisher: MPR International GmbH

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