South Korea received the second largest amount of new shipbuilding orders in the first quarter of the year after China, with global shipbuilding orders plunging 71 percent amid the spreading coronavirus outbreak, industry data showed Tuesday.

South Korea won new shipbuilding orders totaling 360,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) in the January-March period, accounting for 16 percent of overall orders around the globe totaling 2.33 million CGTs, according to the data from Clarkson Research Services Ltd.

China topped others with 1.51 million CGTs and Japan came in third with 180,000 CGTs, the data showed.

"The spreading coronavirus outbreak is having an impact on global trade, as well as ship orders. Some shipping companies take a wait-and-see stance, delaying their ship orders," an official at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. said over the phone.

At the end of March, global shipyards held a total of 73.3 million CGTs in order backlog. China held the largest order backlog with 26.5 million CGTs, with Korea and Japan having 20.7 million CGTs and 10.5 million CGTs, respectively, the data showed. (Yonhap)