Having hit the bottom late last year, global newbuilding prices turned out to keep increasing, even with a small margin, after the second quarter of 2013.
According to Clarkson Research, the newbuilding price index recorded 126.6p as of July 1, increased by 0.5p from the previous month. The report said that the price rise is also shown in tanker and containership segments alongside bulker.
The index keeps rising from late March when the figure recorded 125.6p, although the margin is small.
Particularly, newbuilding containership ordering recovered to nearly as much as three times comparing with last year that the newbuilding price index of the segment also grew to 74p as of July 1 from 72p of early this year.
Meanwhile, newbuilding order intakes of global shipbuilding industry in the first half of 2013 were a combined 48m dwt (749 vessels of 16.70m cgt) with a 64% year-on-year increase.
According to Clarkson survey, total value of newbuilding contracts amounted to $36.9bn in the year to June, which is similar to $37.2bn recorded from the same period of a year ago. Especially, value of orders for Offshore sector, for instance, drillship, FPSO, Offshore Supply Vessel and etc., totaled $13.4bn, a 25% year-on-year decline.
Among orders signed in June, bulker accounted for 34% of total, which can break into 28 handymax bulkers, six handysizes and so on while there was zero capesize bulker for the first time since November, 2012. In terms of 10 Product Carriers (PC) contracted last month, there were four ordered at the US-based General Dynamics NASSCO and another four placed at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Ningbo corporate in China.
On the other hand, by shipbuilding country, China won orders of a combined 21.20m dwt (347 vessels of 6.60m cgt, 13.20m gt) and Korea gained a combined 16.60m dwt (184 vessels of 6m cgt, 11.80m gt) while Japan contracted a combined 6.70m dwt (94 vessels of 2.10m cgt, 4.30m gt)
As for total value of orders in the year to June, Korea contracted $18.5bn in total while China and Japan gained $10.5bn and $3.8bn, respectively.
Particularly, Korean shipbuilders mainly signed contracts for very large containership, LNG carrier with offshore sector and the contract value from the three accounted for 72% of the total value Korea gained.
The contract value of PC segment also took 9% proportion of the total, of which Koreans accounted for 81% of global PC market.
In the first half of the year, overall 993 newbuildings of a combined 62.20m dwt and 19.70m cgt were delivered, declined by 38% in numerical terms. In addition, Korea, China and Japan accounted for 94% of global delivery in dwt terms.
As of the end of June, global newbuilding orderbook was seen to stand on 4,442 vessels of a combined 240.80m dwt or 90.20m cgt, down by 8% in numerical terms against early of 2013.