Korean shipbuilding industry saw orderbook increased on the previous month in the end of 2012, for the first time during the last one and a half years.
According to Clarkson, Korean shipbuilders stood at 29.24m-cgt (825 vessels) orders on the book at the end of 2012, up by 0.73m cgt from 28.51m cgt (815 vessels) in November.
Local shipyards won huge orders for high-value mid- to-large sized newbuildings just during the last month. During December, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, SPP Shipbuilding, STX Dalian, etc., booked more than 40 MR PCs in total, Hyundai Heavy Industries group contracted five newbuilding LNG carriers and one VLGC, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering inked a pair of LNG carriers, STX Shipbuilding & Offshore penned orders for 10 aframax tankers, three suezmax tankers.
Meanwhile, Chinese shipbuilders contracted about 30-some newbuildings, but mainly for bulkers, offshore supply vessels, etc. China recorded 32.88m cgt (1,832 vessels) of orderbook at the end of 2012, declined from 33.38m cgt (1,850 vessels) in the previous month.