Korean shipbuilders’ order intake in the first half of 2022 reached 9.79 million CGT valued worth US$26.5 billion, accounting for 45.5 percent of the global total of 21.53 million CGT. Korea regained the world’s No. 1 position in four years since 2018.

The figure represents the highest order intake since the first half of 2011 (10.36 million CGT), excluding last year when ship orders surged due to delayed demand for ships due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Korean shipbuilders put up an impressive performance in the high value-added ship sector by accounting for 62 percent of the global total of 11.14 million CGT.

This year, demand for large LNG carriers surged due to Qatar’s LNG carrier project and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Korea won orders for 63 LNG carriers (5.44 million CGT) or 71 percent of the total orders worldwide.

In addition, demand for large container ships increased due to hikes in freight rates. Korea received US$13.9 billion worth of orders for 26 units (1.48 million CGT) in this segment.

The proportion of eco-friendly ship orders have been on the rise. Korea also won 58 percent (7.98 million CGT) of the global total of 13.72 million CGT. By fuels, orders for LNG-powered ships were the largest with 115 ships, followed by methanol-powered ships (four ships) and one LPG-powered ship.

Meanwhile, as of the end of June, Korean shipbuilders’ order balance stood at 3.58 million CGT, up 28 percent from 27.37 million CGT in the same period of last year. The docks of Korea’s three major shipbuilders — Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) – are already fully booked for 2025 to 2026.

Marex Media