South Korea just became … in 2004 … earth’s #1 ship builder, edging out Japan. Wow! Congrats! But China (where else!) is on schedule to strip SK of its hard-earned prize by 2015, the New York Times reported yesterday (“Korean Shipbuilders See China’s Shadow”).
The leader of the SKorean pack is the peerless engineering firm, Hyundai. And … ta-da … guess what Hyundai’s new strategy is? You doubtless got it in one: Race up, up, up the value-added ladder. Hyundai is dropping oil tankers and ore carriers and pushing the likes of ultra-sophisticated LNG carriers and offshore oil platforms.