China emerged as the market leader in the global shipbuilding industry in the first half of the year, overtaking Korea in three major indicators.According to U.K.-based market researcher
Clarkson Research Services on Sunday, China built 8.01 million compensated gross tons (CGT) of ships in the first six months, soaring ahead of Korea's 7.48 million CGT. It is the first time that Korea has lagged behind China in total construction volume in a half-year period.
China also outpaced Korea in new orders taken in the January to June period, grabbing 5.02 million CGT in orders or 41.2 percent of the world market, compared to Korea's 4.62 million CGT or 38 percent. China was the leader in terms of total order backlogs as of late June as well.
Korea had dominated the global shipbuilding market since 2003 when it pulled ahead of Japan in all three indicators. But China began beating Korea in new orders and order backlogs last year, and has now taken the lead in construction volume as well.
But an analyst with Woori Investment & Securities shrugged off China's advancement. "More than 50 percent of the orders placed with Chinese shipbuilders since last year are from the Chinese government, so it's not fair to say that Korea has lost the race," he said. Once the European economies recover, Korea will be able to win as many orders as China, he added.