DETERMINANTS OF SOUTH KOREA’S DOMINANCE IN THE GLOBAL LNG CARRIER SHIPBUILDING MARKET: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH CHINA

Abstract

South Korea dominates the global LNG carrier shipbuilding market because it combines advanced cryogenic engineering, membrane containment expertise, a highly integrated industrial ecosystem, and decades of experience in high‑value vessel construction. Rather than competing on low‑cost mass production, Korean shipbuilders such as HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Ocean have specialized in technically demanding LNG carriers, where reliability, safety, and delivery performance matter more than the lowest initial price. However, South Korea still holds an advantage in design maturity, production integration, operational track record, and buyer confidence over China in high - value LNG carrier vessels. But the existing academic literature do not specifically explain why South Korea has ensured it’s lead in LNG carrier shipbuilding sector over China. The publicly available data on the LNG carrier segment are relatively limited. For this reason, the competitive environment was less assessed to date. So, the investigation of the key drivers behind South Korea’s dominance in LNG carrier shipbuilding based on a framework conceptualized on several determinants is important to understand as it offers clear understanding of the future of this significant sector. The study also examines the technological and structural barriers that protect its lead, the reasons global buyers continue to prefer Korean shipbuilders despite higher costs, and the extent to which China is narrowing the gap. Seven variables were set for scoring from 1-10 on the basis of evidence from secondary sources. A Heatmap illustrates the current capability comparison between China and South Korea, which was produced based on the scoring criteria provided on the conceptual framework, and thus it demonstrates South Korea’s unchallenged leadership in LNG carrier shipbuilding market.