South Korea ranked second behind China in global shipbuilding orders last month, industry data showed Monday.

 

Local shipyards won orders equal to a combined 40,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) to build one ship, accounting for six percent of orders placed around the globe, according to London-based Clarkson Research Services Ltd., the world’s leading provider of data for the shipping and shipbuilding industries.

 

China bagged 510,000 CGTs in orders to build 22 vessels, or 69 percent of the total global orders of 750,000 CGTs for 33 vessels.

 

The move came as there were no orders for liquefied natural gas carriers with a capacity of more than 140,000 cubic meters or container ships with a capacity of more than 12,000 TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalent units — the two mainstay businesses of South Korean shipbuilders.

 

In terms of order backlog, China again topped the list with 26.32 million CGTs, or 35 percent of the market in January, followed by South Korea with 22.03 million CGTs, or 29 percent, and Japan with 11.32 million CGTs, or 15 percent.