The first half of 2012 has seen a decrease in global newbuilding investment by over 50%, year-on-year.
During the same period, Korean shipbuilders contracted around $14bn, against Chinese having inked $6bn. However, Korean new order lower by 63%, comparing with $38.2bn contracted in H1 2011.
According to Clarksons on July 5, overall 485 vessels of a cumulative 8.77m have been contracted in the first six months of the year.
Korean shipyards contracted 114 vessels of a combined 3.31m cgt, totalling $14bn, during the same period, followed by Chinese having singed 182 vessels of a cumulative 3.03m cgt, $6bn.
In June, Korea only booked seven orders of a cumulative 210,000 cgt, totalling $332m, recorded monthly lowest this year in value terms. On the other hand, China penned its monthly largest orders, 36 vessels of a combined 872,000 cgt, $1.88bn and took back the first place from Korea.
Overall 913 vessels of a cumulative 20.8m cgt have been invested in the first six months, down by 58% on the same period of 2011.
Korean shipbuilders, comparing with 251 vessels of 9.63m cgt, totalling $38.2bn, contracted in H1 2011, have seen around 63% drop in value terms. Also, China's overall new order for H1 2012 has been cut in more than half from the same period last year with record of $12.2bn (344 vessels, 6.58m cgt).
Global orderbook is rapidly declining as well. As of July 4, global orderbook stood at 104.7m cgt (5,142 vessels), comparing with 123.2m cgt (6,313 vessels) in early January.
Korean shipyards secured 30.86m cgt (931) order on the book, down by 6.66m cgt (235) from early of this year.
Chinese shipbuilders' backlog stood at 37.13m cgt (2,091), down by 9.7m cgt (544).