Ji-wan Nam, Gounee Yang Global Economic News SOUTH KOREAN shipbuilders topped the global new shipbuilding orders last month in both quality and quantity. According to Clarksons Research, a British shipbuilding industry research firm, South Korea won 770,000 combined gross tonnage (CGT) (58 percent) out of 1.32 million CGT new shipbuilding orders worldwide in November, beating China (460,000 CGT, 35 percent) by 23 percent. Until November, the world’s cumulative ship order was 45.7 million CGT, up 138 percent from the previous year (18.97 million CGT). By country, China ranked first with 21.92 million CGT (918 ships, 49 percent). It was followed by South Korea’s 16.96 million CGT (397 ships, 38 percent) and Japan’s 3.93 million CGT (203 ships, 9 percent). The order balance was 90.07 million CGT, down 500,000 CGT from a month ago. By country, South Korea increased 310,000 CGT to 28.99 million CGT, rising for three consecutive months. China and Japan decreased by 420,000 CGT and 250,000 CGT, respectively. | 