South Korea has lost its mantle as the market leader for aframax and LR2 product tanker newbuildings to China, due to the ongoing restructuring of the republic’s shipbuilding industry.
While aframax contracting in general has been sliding over recent years, Chinese yards have been championing the construction of aframax-size tankers such as LR2s since 2017.
South Korea’s demise is being linked to the erosion of its competitive edge on both price and shipbuilding capacity.
