Korean shipbuilders won overall 1.29m cgt (30 vessels, $2.834bn) of newbuildings in December 2012, recording the monthly largest during the year, and were ranked at the first place of total yearly new order for two years in a row.
Chinese shipyards, in December, booked 0.51m cgt (30 vessels, $882m), according to Clarkson.
Korea seemed to yield the first place to China with new orders slowing down during the second half. However, due to successive orders contracted in the end of last year, such as LNG carrier, MR tanker, cruder oil tanker, etc., Korean shipbuilders inked a total of 7.46m cgt (225 vessels, $29.98bn) in the full year 2012, while Chinese contracted overall 7.1m cgt (420 vessels, $15.45bn).
As of November, 2012, China was likely to win Korea, by having contracted 6.59m cgt, comparing with Korea's 6.17m cgt. However, the record switched just in a month.
Korean shipyards took back the first place from China in 2011, which had been placed at the top during 2008-2010. Korea contracted 13.7m cgt, while China inked 9.2m cgt in 2011.
Meanwhile, worldwide newbuilding order in 2012 totalled 21.29m cgt (1,087 vessels), slightly more than 16.73m cgt (1,168 vessels) from 2009.
In 2012, Korean shipbuilders won more orders than 4.41m cgt in 2009 but less than 13.7m cgt in 2011. Chinese shipyards went through severe stagnancy, with less orders booked last year, comparing with 8.28m cgt in 2009.