China Shipyards Take the Lead from Korea
Korean shipbuilders outperformed by their Chinese competitors in 2012 exports, 11 years after Korea in turn overtook Japan in 2001. â¨
The Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry analysis of data from the Korea International Trade Association puts exports by Korean shipbuilders at US$37.8 billion in 2012, compared to China's $39.2 billion.â¨â¨The change is due to the fact that Korea was more affected by the global downturn than China, reports 'The Chosunilbo'.
Korean shipbuilders saw exports decrease around 30 percent on-year in 2012 while their Chinese and Japanese rivals posted drops of only 10.3 percent and 14.6 percent.â¨â¨
The shipbuilding industry has been one of Korea's mainstays. Since the mid-2000s, it enjoyed a boom and grew to post $54.1 billion in exports in 2011, but according to industry analysts, China has lately been putting up strong fight aided by government support.
Source: The Chosunilbo