A rebound in new building prices is raising speculation that the global shipbuilding sector is set to recover down the road, industry data showed Tuesday.

According to the data compiled by industry tracker Clarkson Research Institute, new building prices of bulk carriers and oil tankers have continued to rise for the past two months.

The price of a new very large crude carrier with 310,000 deadweight tons stood at $80.5 million this month, after falling to $80 million earlier this year, with the comparable figure for a new oil tanker with 75,000 DWTs rising to $41.5 million this month from a trough of $41 million.

The upturn in prices of new construction marks the first in almost three years, causing optimism that the global shipbuiding sector is on track for recovery.

"It is hard to say that the shipbuilding industry entered a full-fledged recovery cycle, but we can definitely say that the sector has bottomed out," an industry source said.

Industry watchers said that an improvement in oil tankers and other ships indicate that a consensus is forming that new building prices will not fall down the road. (Yonhap)