South Korea’s shipbuilders are bracing for a new era of fiercer competition from China after the two biggest Beijing-backed shipbuilding groups announced plans to merge.
The consolidation of China State Shipbuilding Corp and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, agreed last month, will create a behemoth to rival Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s biggest shipbuilder by orders, even after the South Korean company’s planned acquisition of second-ranked Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
Ka Sam-hyun, chief executive of Hyundai Heavy Industries, said the new Chinese group would be a more competitive rival, with “synergies” that will drive better technological development and lower costs.