Combined orders received by South Korea's shipbuilders reached a record US$12.4 billion in the third quarter of the year, a government report said Wednesday.
The tally represents a 106.4 percent gain as measured in dollars, and a 142.5 percent surge in actual shipbuilding orders compared to the same three month period in 2005, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said.
In the July-September period, South Korean shipyards clinched orders for 152 ships amounting to 5.97 million compensated gross tons (CGT).
The ministry said at the companies presently have a combined order backlog of 42.90 million tons worth $90.3 billion, enough to keep them busy for the next 3.6 years.
"Stable labor-management conditions and improved production capability have all contributed to the brisk orders," said Kim Yong-rae, head of the ministry's transportation machinery division.
He said local shipbuilders had secured orders for 24 very large container ships in the 10,000 TEU class category. TEU stands for 20-foot-equivalent unit. "This means that the country now has a firm grip on the container ship market along with its dominance in the liquefied natural gas carriers," Kim said.
Local shipyards have been logging up orders in excess of 2 million tons since the first quarter of this year.
South Korea has put seven shipbuilders on the world's top-10 list including Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Industries Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co.
Seoul, Oct. 25 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea's shipbuilding orders hit record high of $12.4 bln in 3Q |
