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Shipyards Win Record Orders in 1st Quarter


SEOUL (Yonhap) ㅡ Orders won by South Korean shipbuilders jumped 34 percent from a year ago to a record $12 billion in the January-March period, according to a Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy report.
The report, released on Tuesday, said the orders amount to 136 vessels, or 4.92 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT), up 18.7 percent from a year earlier.

The increase is mainly attributable to an increase in orders for high value-added ships like liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, the ministry said. Domestic shipyards clinched orders for 23 gas-hauling ships, including 14 LNG carriers.

``The rise in orders reflects confidence in the quality of ships made here, stable management-labor relations and improved productivity,'' Kim Young-min, head of the ministry's transportation machinery division, said.

In the first quarter, local shipyards built 85 ships totaling 2.84 million tons, up 21.4 percent from the previous year.

At the end of March, domestic shipbuilders had a combined order backlog of 1,031 ships worth $77.2 billion, enough to keep them busy for over three years, he said.

South Korean shipyards like Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. currently boast 35 percent of global shipbuilding orders. Japanese firms hold a 20.4 percent share, followed by Europe and China.


# The Korea Times [April 19, 2006]