Seoul, July 29 (IANS) South Korean shipbuilders saw a significant rebound in their global order share in the first half amid US sanctions targeting Chinese rivals, an industry report showed on Tuesday.

According to the report from the Export-Import Bank of Korea, South Korea secured 25.1 percent of global shipbuilding orders in terms of compensated gross tons (CGT) during the January-June period, reports Yonhap news agency.

It marks a substantial rise from 17.2 percent a year earlier, narrowing the gap with leader China from 51 percentage points to 26.7 percentage points.

Last year, South Korea’s share of global annual orders stood at 15 percent, the lowest in eight years.

This year’s rebound is largely attributed to recent U.S. trade measures. The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has introduced a policy to impose port entry fees on Chinese shipping companies and operators of Chinese-built vessels, effectively discouraging reliance on Chinese shipyards.

In the first half of the year, container ships accounted for 53.3 percent of South Korea’s total order volume of 4.87 million CGT. Last year, South Korean shipyards secured just two midsize-to-large container ship orders.

“The shift in orders from Chinese to Korean shipbuilders amid U.S. sanctions has contributed to the increase in Korea’s global market share,” the report said.

Despite the improved performance, the bank stressed the need for South Korea’s shipbuilding industry to use this opportunity to enhance its fundamental competitiveness for long-term resilience.

Meanwhile, South Korea ranked second in new global shipbuilding orders in June, industry data showed.

South Korean shipyards clinched orders totaling 1.05 million compensated gross tons (CGTs) for eight ships, accounting for 41 percent of the global total at 2.56 million CGTs last month, according to London-based Clarkson Research Services.

China ranked first, taking up 53 percent of the global total.

In terms of order backlog, China ranked first with 96.82 million CGTs, or 59 percent of the global total of 163.37 million CGTs as of the end of June, with South Korea trailing in second with 35.42 million CGTs, accounting for 22 percent of the total.

Clarkson’s Newbuilding Price Index, a barometer of price changes in newly built ships, came to 187.11 last month, up 0.42 point from a year ago.

—IANS

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