South Korea surpassed China in January ship orders, according to a report by Clarkson Research. The report, released on February 7, revealed that South Korea captured 62% of global ship orders, amounting to 900,000 compensated gross tonnage (CGT), while China secured only 270,000 CGT, accounting for 19% of the global total.
The global ship order volume in January was 1.46 million CGT, a 74% decrease compared to the same period last year.
Despite the overall decline, South Korea secured orders for 13 ships, focusing on high-value large vessels, particularly LNG-related ships. China, focusing on low-value small vessels, secured orders for 21 ships.
HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering contracted 12 LNG dual-fuel container ships worth 3.716 trillion won from a European shipping company. Samsung Heavy Industries secured an order for one LNG carrier from an Oceania shipping company for 379.6 billion won.
Both HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries raised their annual order targets for this year. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering set its target at $18.05 billion, while Samsung Heavy Industries set its target at $9.8 billion.
The Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index stood at 189.38 points in January, a 5% increase compared to the same period last year and a 49% surge compared to 2021.