Cranes operate over the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. yard in Geoje, South Korea, in this file photo. The world’s third-largest yard won $2.3 billion of orders in June, its biggest month this year, as demand increased for moving fuel and commodities. --Bloomberg

HONG KONG—Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world’s third-largest yard, said it won $2.3 billion of orders in June, its biggest month this year, as demand increased for moving fuel and commodities.

Contracts were received for 12 vessels in the month, the Seoul-based company said in an e-mailed statement Sunday. Buyers ordered nine very large crude carriers, the biggest of their type, a deep-water drill ship and two bulk carriers for 2012 delivery.

 Yards in South Korea, the world’s biggest shipbuilding nation, may win record orders for a sixth year as buyers pay a premium to ensure timely deliveries. More than half of the global ship orders by tonnage were won by South Korean yards in the first five months of this year, according to London-based ship broker Clarkson Plc.

“Shipping lines are willing to pay a bit more to have vessels built by South Korean yards to avoid the delivery delays that you might get with Chinese shipbuilders,” said Lee Jae Kyu, an analyst at Mirae Asset Securities Co. in Seoul. He has a “buy” rating for Daewoo Shipbuilding.

South Korean shipyards are delivering ships to their clients on time or ahead of schedule. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipyard, delivered an oil tanker to a client in India more than seven months before the due date.

Chinese shipbuilders probably delayed about 45 percent of their deliveries as of last month, partly because of a shortage of components, Lee said. That compares with a 25-percent rate in 2007, he said.

South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy, Doosan Engine Co. and STX Group, the world’s biggest ship-engine makers, offer almost all of their production to domestic shipyards before selling them overseas.

The shipyards are also developing technology to reduce fuel costs, making them more attractive to shipping lines.

Hyundai Heavy’s ships have thrust fins installed behind propellers, saving about $2.4 million of fuel costs a year. Daewoo Shipbuilding’s preswirl stator, which helps reduce drag, can save about $100,000 a month.

Daewoo Shipbuilding, which aims to win $17.5 billion of orders this year, has received $7.56 billion in the first half.

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, the world’s largest shipping line, may order 16 vessels from Daewoo Shipbuilding worth $115 million apiece, TradeWinds reported on June 13, without saying where it got the information. Each of the ships would be capable of carrying 7,500 containers, the report said.

Hyundai Heavy, Samsung Heavy and Daewoo Shipbuilding received a combined $31 billion in orders this year. Their backlogs reached about $122 billion as of the end of May.

Shipping lines ordered $44.6 billion worth of vessels in the first five months of this year, according to Clarkson, the world’s largest shipbroker.

Daewoo Shipbuilding dropped 3.1 percent to close at 41,000 won on June 27. The stock has fallen 21 percent this year, compared with an 11-percent decline in South Korea’s Kospi index. Bloomberg

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Daewoo says it won ship orders of $2.3B in June; biggest this year

HONG KONG—Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world’s third-largest yard, said it won $2.3 billion of orders in June, its biggest month this year, as demand increased for moving fuel and commodities.