Amid global fleet overcapacity and slowing down commercial traffic by European financial crisis, troubled shipbuilding industries have seen new order, in the first six months of 2012, plunge 57.9% to 8.77m cgt, with delivery down 2.8% to 25.39m cgt.
In a report by KEXIM (Export-Import Bank of Korea) Overseas Economic Research Institute, with only around two-year work load remaining in the world, global new order has faced serious condition. 
Senior researcher Yang Jong-Seo said, in regard of newbuilding price trend, most of segments, except containership, have slowed down in decreases, however, comparing with the highest points in the third quarter of 2008, bulker price declined by 47.5%, tanker and boxship fell 38% and gas carrier dropped 24%.
Korea's newbuilding order inflow, during the first half, recorded 3.31m cgt, plummeted by 65.3% y-o-y, and totalled $14bn, sharply declined by 63.2% y-o-y, of which orders for offshore facility and LNG carrier accounted for 71% with around $10bn.
Korean shipyards delivered overall 8.61m cgt in H1, down by 4% on the same period last year and recorded $25.5bn of ship export, down by 20.1%.
Researcher Yang said, "Although Korean shipyards see orders in offshore facility and LNG carrier sectors, there is few orders for commercial ship sector." Korean yards won overall 17 orders for LNG carrier in H1.
On the other hand, Korea just contracted 15 bulkers, seven tankers and 30 product carriers, particularly, according to Yang, "There has been no one boxship contracted during the first half, which is quite a shocking result."
He also forecast that with commercial ship market, less likely to recover in H2 as well, yards would see a huge drop in new order annually. And he prospected that orders for LNG carrier and drillship would cut in half compared to those invested in a boom period of 2011 in the sectors, but additional FPSOs are to be placed for orders in H2.
Therefore, he expected Korea's overall new order intake for 2012 to be around 7m cgt, down by 48%, totalling $33.7bn, down by around 30% y-o-y.