Here's a wrap-up of the battle between shipping sector's Big 2

Keppel, Sembcorp bagged $20.9b worth of contracts.

According to UOB Kay Hian, the Singapore shipyard sector outperformed the FSSTI by 8% in 1H12, but it reversed its performance in 2H12 with an underperformance of 8%.

Overall, the sector underperformed marginally by 0.8% in 2012. Performance in the sector was mixed. The best performers in 1H12 were Sembcorp Industries (SCI) and Sembcorp Marine (SMM) which outperformed the FSSTI by 18% and 16% respectively on SMM’s strong contract wins and SCI’s sterling utilities performance.

However, they lost ground in 2H12 with an underperformance of 8% and 14% respectively, as SMM’s operating margins came in lower-than-expected.

Petrobras rig orders are finally in the bag. In 2012, Keppel Corp (Keppel) and SMM won new contracts worth S$9.9b and S$11.0b respectively.

Here's more from UOB:

Of the contracts won by Keppel, S$6.3b was Petrobras-related orders (Sete Brasil placed a US$4.1b order for five semi-submersible rigs while Petrobras awarded a US$950m contract for FPSO module fabrication and integration).

As for SMM, of the S$11.0b worth of new contracts won by the group, S$6.9b was Petrobras-related (orders amounting to US$5.6b for seven drillships from Sete Brasil and a US$674m contract for FPSO module fabrication and integration).

Non-Petrobras related contracts in 2012 amounted to S$5.0b for Keppel and S$4.2b for SMM.

2012 saw total orders for 61 drilling rigs (2011: 92) globally, comprising 22 jack-ups (2011: 45), 12 semi-submersible rigs (semis) (2011: 7), 22 drillships (2011: 36) and 5 tender rigs (2011: 4).

Of these, Singapore rig builders Keppel and SMM secured 10 jack-ups (45% market share), 8 semis (67% market share) and 7 drillships (32% market share).

Of the semis, 5 were due to the order placed by Sete Brasil to Keppel and of the drillships, all 7 units were orders by Sete Brasil to SMM’s Brazilian shipyard.

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