[THE INVESTOR]  The order backlog of South Korean shipyards fell to the lowest level in over 12 years in August, industry data showed on Sept. 7.

According to the data compiled by global research firm Clarkson Research Services, the shipbuilding order backlog of Hyundai Heavy Industries and its other local rivals stood at 23.31 million compensated gross tons as of end-August, the lowest since October 2003, when the comparable figure was 22.56 million CGTs.

In August alone, the local shipyards clinched orders worth 210,000 CGTs to build eight vessels.



Last month, Chinese rivals bagged orders worth 320,000 CGTs, with their order backlog reaching 35.7 million CGTs as of end-August.

Japanese shipyards had an order backlog of 21.96 million CGTs, the data showed.

South Korean shipyards accounted for 13.4 percent of the shipbuilding orders placed around the globe in total in the first eight months of the year, while the comparable figures for Chinese and Japanese rivals were 38.3 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)