SOUTH Korean shipbuilding capacity will swell by 90 per cent from five million gross tonnes (gt) last year to 9.5 million gt in the year 2000, surpassing Japan's nine million gt, according to Nomura Research.
The research arm of Normura Securities also predicts that the widely expected advent of a global shipbuilding boom in late 1990s will not come to fruition because of a worldwide supply glut and front-loading of orders.
Expansion of production facilities by Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries and other major South Korean shipbuilders will boost the nation's shipbuilding capacity to 6.5 million gt in 1996 and to 9.5 million gt in 2000, the report says.
And increased shipbuilding capacity of Chinese and eastern European companies will raise the global capacity for ship construction to 28.5 million gt in 2000 from 22 million gt last year.
The institute expects currently falling ship prices to recover in the first half of next year as Japanese and South Korean shipbuilders have almost filled their order books until the end of 1996, and bulk carrier freight demand is on an upward trend.
Meanwhile, Korean newbuilding exports are expected to pass the US$4 billion mark for the first time this year.
The Korean Shipbuilders Association has announced that thanks to last year's increased orders from abroad and improved productivity among Korean shipbuilders, the country's ship exports are likely to total 14.8 million gt, worth $4.2 billion this year.
