Chinese shipbuilders are entering the global LNG carrier market, which has been dominated by South Korean shipbuilders.

For example, last month, Jiangnan Shipyard signed a contract with a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. to supply four LNG carriers each with a capacity of 175,000 cubic meters. It is the first LNG carrier contract of the Chinese shipbuilder.

In April this year, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry concluded a contract with China Merchants Group subsidiary CMES to supply two with the same capacity. Likewise, it is the first LNG carrier contract of the shipbuilder. Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding is already building LNG carriers, that is, South Korean shipbuilders are competing with three Chinese in the global LNG carrier market.

At present, Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering’ share in the market is 38 percent, followed by Samsung Heavy Industries (25 percent) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (16 percent). Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding is only 3 percentage points behind Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. For the first five months of this year, a total of 61 LNG carrier orders were placed worldwide and 39 and 22 went to South Korean and Chinese shipbuilders, respectively.
Source: Business Korea