Korean shipbuilding industry (including overseas facilities) is said to have won around 83% of new orders for product carrier (PC) newbuilds placed around the world during the passing year.
According the latest report from EA Gibson, about 86% of tanker newbuilding orders sizes over 25,000 dwt placed by global shipowners over the past 16 months turned out to be for PC (particularly MR) and Korean shipbuilders won 69% of the newbuilds from the segment.
Furthermore, when including order intakes of the builders’ foreign facilities, Korean shipbuilders’ share of PC orders reached almost 83%.
In comparison, Chinese shipbuilders took just 10% of the share while Japanese rivals won only three PC newbuilds during the same period.
The report revealed, “Chinese yards seek to secure new orders in every range of vessel however when it comes to coated tanker newbuilding project, what is sure is that shipowners prefer yards with firm newbuilding record in the area,” saying most Chinese yards still lack of performance in the sector.
It continued, “There has been many shipowners who try to place orders for high-efficiency vessels with advanced design at a cost of relatively low price, thus new orders for PC are likely to continue further.”
Newbuilding prices for MR PC are currently standing at around $33m, representing 60% cheaper than the highest seen in September, 2008, according to Gibson. Also, considering the market condition where a great number of newbuilding options are not yet confirmed, newbuilding price is highly expected to move upwards.