A late surge helped cement the Korean shipbuilding industry’s global lead in order volume last year, according to a report released by U.K.-based Clarkson’s Research on Wednesday.

Korea was tied with China in terms of the number of shipbuilding orders in December, with 30 vessels each, but Korean shipbuilders stayed ahead of Chinese in terms of order value.

Korean shipbuilders inked $2.83 billion worth of orders in December, while the value of the Chinese deals stood at $880 million, the report said.

This helped Korea keep its lead last year, with orders won by Korean shipbuilders totaling $29.98 billion, compared to that of Chinese shipbuilders at $15.45 billion.

Amid the global economic downturn, Korean shipbuilders have faced rising competition from Chinese firms armed with cheaper prices in the commercial shipbuilding sector. They have responded by shifting their business focus to high-value-added ships like LNG tankers in commercial shipbuilding or offshore plants.

Market watchers forecast that the shipbuilding industry will have a better year in 2013 as global shipbuilding financing will start to recover in the first quarter of this year. The oversupply issue will also start to subside from this year, Daeshin Securities said in a report.

By Seo Jee-yeon  (jyseo@heraldcorp.com)