South Korea was relegated to the second spot in global shipbuilding orders last month for the first time since April, industry data showed Thursday.

In September, local shipyards won orders totaling 320,000 compensated gross tons (CGTs) to build nine ships, accounting for 28 percent of orders placed around the globe, according to London-based Clarkson Research Services Ltd., the world’s leading provider of data for the shipping and shipbuilding industries.

China was the No. 1 nation by securing 740,000 CGTs in orders to build 30 vessels, or 65 percent of total global orders. Japan took third place with orders totaling 80,000 CGTs for five ships.

In the first nine months of the year, South Korean shipbuilders secured orders equal to 5.27 million CGTs to construct 135 vessels for a 34 percent market share, the data showed. China topped the list with 5.98 million CGTs, or 253 ships, for a 39 percent market share.

But for the third quarter alone, South Korea was the top player with 1.7 million CGTs, outnumbering China’s 1.35 million CGTs.

With the global shipping industry hit by the U.S.-China trade dispute and other economic woes, new shipbuilding orders around the globe dropped 43 percent from a year earlier to 15.39 million CGTs in the first nine months of the year, the data showed.

In terms of order backlog, China again topped the list with 27.27 million CGTs, or 36 percent of the market, followed by South Korea with 20.24 million CGTs and Japan with 12.84. million CGTs.