Key facts
- Clarksons Research counted 76 large LNG carrier orders globally from January to October, more than four times last year's 17.
- South Korean shipbuilders won 44 of those 76 orders, a 57.9% share, while China took 32, or 42.1%, per Clarksons.
- China won three LNG carrier orders in all of last year, according to Clarksons data cited by Financial News.
- Hudong-Zhonghua and Jiangnan Shipyard have driven China's order haul, expanding beyond the domestic market to overseas shipowners.
- HD KSOE named Hudong-Zhonghua and Jiangnan Shipyard as competitors in the LNG carrier market on an earnings call, per Financial News.
Chinese shipyards won five of the seven large liquefied natural gas carrier orders placed worldwide in October, against two for South Korean yards, according to data from British shipping consultancy Clarksons Research. It is the first month China has taken more orders than South Korea in the segment, the primary report said.
For January to October, Clarksons counted 76 large LNG carrier orders globally, more than four times the 17 placed in all of last year. South Korean shipbuilders won 44 of them, a 57.9% share, and China 32, or 42.1%, Financial News reported, citing Clarksons. China won three such orders in the whole of last year, the outlet said.
Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Jiangnan Shipyard have driven China's order haul, expanding beyond the domestic market to overseas shipowners, per Financial News. On October 16, Hudong-Zhonghua signed a contract with Malaysian shipping company MISC to build five 174,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers. Including five vessels contracted in January and February, MISC has ordered 10 vessels from the yard, the outlet reported.
According to Shanghai municipal government data cited by Financial News, the MISC contract lifted Hudong-Zhonghua's LNG carrier order backlog to 57 vessels, with construction slots secured through 2030 and beyond. HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, a leading South Korean shipbuilder, named Hudong-Zhonghua and Jiangnan Shipyard as competitors in the LNG carrier market on an earnings conference call, the outlet said.