According to data by Clarkson Research Services, the gap between South Korea and China's newbuilding orderbook is narrowing. At the beginning of May, South Korea's newbuild orderbook held 34.4 percent of the global market share at 61.71 million CGT. China's orderbook amounted to 32.7 percent at 58.57 million CGT.
However, analysts said that Korea need not worry just yet. While it may seem that the competition from Chinese yards was increasing, industry sources said that the narrowing in the difference was due to the combined reasons of Korea's ability to deliver vessels on time and the delays of newbuilds from Chinese yards.
Analysts also pointed out that the rate of cancellation was faster than at Korean yards.
