Korea's ship exports plunged by around 30% year-on-year and recorded the first decrease over the last 13 years, with China believed to have emerged as the world's No. 1 ship export nation last year.
According to the report by the Korea International Trade Association's Institute for International Trade, Korean ship exports reached $33.5 billion in the January-October period, down 28.2% from a year earlier, marking the first decline in annual exports since 1999 when the local shipbuilding sector logged a 6 percent drop.
The report said China's ship exports reached $33.6 billion in the first 10 months of last year.
Korea's ship exports saw the biggest decline of about 30% in 2012 comparing with the previous year, while China decreased by 5.9% and Japan, which exported $20.3bn of ships during the first ten months, dropped by 8.3%.
"Korean shipbuilders delivered low-priced vessels ordered after 2008 when global financial crisis occurred to its customers last year," said Cho Sang-hyun, a researcher at the institute.
However, market players analyzed that Korean shipbuilders were still holding dominance in the amount and quality of new order.
Also, it is expected that Korean ship exports would see a mild recovery in 2013.