The shipbuilding industry is one of the most important manufacturing and pillar industries in South Korea, and it is also a major exporter of South Korea's foreign trade, generating a huge trade surplus for the country every year. In the past few years, the export volume and trade surplus of South Korea's shipbuilding industry ranked first among the country's seven major export industries for consecutive years. The export value of ships in 2010 and 2011 was 46.7 billion US dollars and 54.1 billion US dollars respectively, but it dropped below 40 billion US dollars in 2012. Therefore, the trends in the shipbuilding market are closely related to South Korea's sensitive "economic nerves". At the end and beginning of each year, the "weather conditions" of the shipbuilding market become a hot topic for analysis and prediction in the South Korean industry.

Forecast: The shipping market is expected to improve but remains sluggish in the short term

The outlook of the South Korean business community and related industries for the international shipbuilding market in 2013 is generally cautious, but most believe that the shipbuilding market in 2013 will be better than that in 2012. The "weather map" of South Korea's pillar export industries in 2013 released by the Korea International Trade Association shows that the shipbuilding industry was "rainy" in 2012 but turned "cloudy" in 2013, with the weather grade rising to a new level. The Federation of Korean Industries, a major business consortium organization in South Korea, analyzed that although the shipbuilding and shipping markets will improve slightly compared to 2012, it is still difficult to shake off the shadow of slow global economic growth and the European debt crisis. Most market analysts and researchers from several major securities companies in South Korea believe that although the shipbuilding market may improve slightly, the overall sluggish state of the shipbuilding industry will continue. The market order volume will increase slightly compared to 2012, but the total number of ship orders held by shipbuilding companies may decline. The current situation of low ship prices is difficult to change, and the market value of listed stocks of South Korean shipbuilding companies may decline.

A study commissioned by South Korea's Chosun Ilbo and conducted by South Korea's securities industry intelligence and information company ENGIDE shows that the profits of large South Korean shipbuilding companies will decline in 2013. This study holds that due to the European fiscal crisis which will lead to negative economic growth in EU member states, the financing capacity of Europe, as the center of the international ship financing market, is continuously shrinking, which will make it difficult for new ship orders to increase significantly. The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry believes that several major South Korean shipbuilding companies will intensify their efforts to capture the market in the fields of offshore engineering equipment and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. Global oil and gas development, especially the large-scale development of shale gas and natural gas in the United States, will drive an increase in orders for LNG carriers.

In contrast, the market outlook of large South Korean shipbuilding enterprises has been described by South Korean media as "cautious". Lee Jae-seong, the general manager of Hyundai Heavy Industries, said, "The economic downturn in developed countries will continue, and the economic growth rate in developing countries will also slow down. The world economy has entered a stage of low growth, which makes our business environment even more difficult." The markets of major sectors such as shipbuilding are unlikely to emerge from the sluggish situation in the short term.

The president of the Korea Shipbuilding Association is concurrently held by Ko Jae-ho, the general manager of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. On January 10th, the Korea Shipbuilding Association held a New Year's gathering for the Korean shipbuilding industry in 2013. At the gathering, Ko Jae-ho, when looking forward to the prospects of the international shipbuilding market this year, said that the world economy has entered a stage of low-speed growth, and the growth of international trade has slowed down significantly. The average annual growth rate of world trade in the past few years was around 6%. Last year and this year, the growth rate will fluctuate at around 2.5% to 2.6%, which will inevitably lead to a slowdown in the growth rate of logistics volume in the maritime market and directly affect the shipbuilding sector. He said, "It is expected that this year, both South Korea's ship exports and new ship orders will be the most difficult since the financial crisis. The overall market environment makes it impossible for us to lift the 'tense state' and we cannot slack off in the slightest."

Apart from the two major shipbuilding enterprises mentioned above, the South Korean shipbuilding industry predicts that although the world economy is sluggish, it may improve starting from the second half of the year. Therefore, the shipbuilding market is highly likely to show a trend of "low in the first half and high in the second half". Although there is an excess of merchant ship capacity, the market for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly merchant ships is promising. Compared with their competitors, South Korean shipyards have certain technological advantages in this field. Therefore, South Korean shipyards are looking forward to making achievements in taking orders for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly merchant ships. In addition, the South Korean shipbuilding industry has considerable confidence in taking orders for offshore engineering equipment.

In China's manufacturing industry, especially in industrial fields such as assembly, dispensing, handling and welding, the application of robots has become a hot topic and a major trend. Some well-known enterprises have begun to apply robots on a large scale, including Huawei, ZTE, BYD, etc. Foxconn has also suspended recruitment and is developing a million-robot strategy. All of this indicates that robots in our country are approaching the manufacturing industry and will become a major development trend.

In addition, The State Council's release of the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan for the Development of National Strategic Emerging Industries" has also promoted the development of the Chinese market. In hospitals, households and some service industries, robots are being utilized to accelerate industrial upgrading. This huge market has also attracted the close attention of domestic and foreign enterprises.

Although the application fields of robots in our country are extensive, when looking at the robot industry in our country, 80% of the market share is still held by multinational companies. This market, which is now in urgent need of being broken and has such great potential, is also a good opportunity for the development of enterprises in our country. At present, many local governments have successively introduced corresponding policies, including Shanghai, Kunshan, Tangshan, Chongqing and others, to attract research and development and manufacturing enterprises, competing to build local robot industries and seize the robot market.

The usage of industrial robots in China is increasing day by day, and the market demand for robots has risen significantly. It is expected to reach 35,000 units in 2015, making it the largest market in the world. In addition, the current structural shortage of labor force and the rising labor costs in the manufacturing industry in our country are all promoting the development of the robot industry in our country. The demand for the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry enables industrial robots to develop at an accelerated pace.

At present, robots are mainly applied in manufacturing. In addition, they are also used in the brick-making field of coal mines, the concrete machinery industry, hospitals, households and some service industries, military, scientific research and aerospace fields. Although China's robot industry will develop rapidly, due to the insufficient independent capacity in key components of robots, such as servo motors, reducers, controllers, sensors, etc., this will be a challenge that China's robot industry must face.

(Source: Internet)