July Ship Orders in South Korea Total 330,000 CGT... Down 37% Year-on-Year

Global Ship Orders Drop by 58% Worldwide
China Also Sees a 59% Decline

Last month, South Korea's ship orders fell by 37% compared to the same period last year. China also saw a sharp decline of 59%, indicating a continued global downturn in shipbuilding orders.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group's LNG-powered large container ship undergoing sea trial Photo by Yonhap News

According to Clarkson Research, a UK-based shipbuilding and shipping market analysis firm, South Korea's ship orders in July totaled 330,000 CGT (Compensated Gross Tonnage, 8 vessels). This represents a 37% decrease from the same month last year, with a market share of 16%. China secured orders totaling 1.52 million CGT (43 vessels) during the same period, ranking first with a 75% market share, but this was also a 59% decrease year-on-year.

Last month, global ship orders amounted to 2.03 million CGT (58 vessels), which is a 43% drop from the previous month (3.54 million CGT) and a 58% decrease from the same month last year (4.87 million CGT). Cumulative orders from January to July this year totaled 23.26 million CGT (788 vessels), a 51% decline compared to the same period last year. During this period, South Korea recorded 5.24 million CGT (123 vessels, 23% market share), while China posted 13.03 million CGT (463 vessels, 56%).

As of the end of last month, the global order backlog stood at 164.79 million CGT, down 440,000 CGT from the previous month. South Korea's backlog was 35.22 million CGT (21% market share), an increase of 20,000 CGT from the previous month but a decrease of 4.03 million CGT compared to the same period last year. China's backlog was 98.37 million CGT (60%), up 410,000 CGT from the previous month and 13.37 million CGT from a year earlier.

The Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index stood at 186.65 points, down 0.46 points from the previous month (187.11), but still 47% higher than in July 2020 (126.72). By vessel type, the price of an LNG carrier was $251 million, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was $126 million, and a 22,000?24,000 TEU-class ultra-large container ship was $273 million.