South Korean shipbuilders came in second worldwide in total new orders last month, outpaced by Chinese rivals, industry data showed on Feb. 13, 2019.

According to the data compiled by industry tracker Clarkson Research Institute, local shipyards garnered new orders worth a combined 580,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) in January to build 12 ships.

Chinese shipbuilding companies took the top spot with 1.08 million CGTs to construct 57 vessels.

Last month, the total global orders were tallied at 2.14 million CGTs, far below the previous year's 3.58 million CGTs and the monthly average of 2.48 million CGTs.

China topped the list of order backlog with 28.9 million CGTs, followed by South Korea with 21.61 million CGTs and Japan with 13.69 million CGTs.

In 2018, South Korean shipyards, for the first time in seven years, ranked No. 1 in terms of annual orders secured. Increased orders for LNG carriers helped Korean shipbuilders retake the top spot in the global hierarchy.

South Korea lost its No. 1 position to China in 2012 and was second up until 2017. (Yonhap)

저작권자 © The Korea Post 무단전재 및 재배포 금지