Korea’s top three shipbuilders seemed to have been restored to their former glory in the market, at least in terms of total sales orders this year, as the global shipping industry finally showed signs of bottoming out.

They, however, still saw some of the lowest profits ever, a challenging factor for the industry that expects slow growth in the upcoming year.

The total aggregated orders of Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering amounted to $47.9 billion as of Sunday, up from last year’s $38.6 billion.

Given the current business trend and impending orders, the year’s final sum is likely to exceed $50 billion, according to officials.

The Korean shipbuilding industry hit its peak in 2007 when the top three companies’ total orders amounted to an unprecedented $68.5 billion. But it took a nosedive in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis and has not yet recovered.

The industry’s champion HHI took the lead in this year’s three-way race by bringing in $23.3 billion in sales, achieving 98 percent of its target. This was its highest record since the global financial crisis hit in 2008.

Runner-up SHI, too, came near its target of $13 billion by securing sales of $12.6 billion, of which some $3 billion was yielded in the liquefied natural gas carrier sector.

“SHI took an unrivalled lead in the LNG carrier market by winning 12 out of the 36 corresponding orders worldwide,” said an official.

DSME has been troubled by a prolonged ownership vacuum as well as the bribery scandal involving its executive members, but has nevertheless achieved some 92 percent of its yearly target order, thanks to its forte in the offshore engineering business, officials said.

“Many ship owners sought to purchase ships during this year’s market trough and prepare themselves for the future market upturn,” said an official of the Korea Offshore & Shipbuilding Association.

However, the accumulated operating profit of the three companies as of the third quarter of this year dropped by 17.5 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

The loss was especially the largest for seemingly victorious HHI, which posted an operating profit of 632.4 billion won as of the third quarter, a 47.4 percent drop from the same period last year.

This was largely attributable to the company’s heavy reliance on the commercial ship sector, which is facing fierce competition from low-cost Chinese rivals, according to the KOSA.

The association also explained that low-cost orders in 2009-2010 will continue to affect shipbuilders until early next year.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)