South Korea wins most world shipbuilding orders

South Korean yards won the most world shipbuilding orders placed in August 2019, the South Korean government said. In August, Korean shipyards won shipbuilding orders totalling 735,000 compensated gross tonnes (CGTs), accounting more than 70% of orders placed worldwide, said the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, well in front of rivals in China and Japan. In the first eight months of 2019, South Korean shipyards won orders totalling 4.64 million CGTs. This was 34.9% of total global orders placed during in the first eight months but was below the 5.02 million CGTs of orders won by Chinese shipbuilders. However, South Korea was ahead of China in terms of order value. The trade ministry said South Korean shipyards won orders worth US$11.3 billion in the January-August 2019 period, US$370 million more than won by yards in China. The ministry said South Korean shipbuilders' competitive edge in building high-value ships, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and very large crude carriers (VLCC), is leading the good performance. South Korea won 24 of the 27 orders placed for LNG carriers, and 10 of the 17 orders placed for VLCCs in the January-August period, the ministry said.