Export Opportunities
Hyundai Rotem is accelerating its moves to receive railway vehicle orders with the export of its K2 tank. In the first half of this year, the company received the largest-ever amount (worth 3 trillion won) of orders including an order for railway trains for Australia. In Korea, it will make the first delivery of 320 kph power-distributed high-speed railway cars which have been successfully localized at the end of this year. In particular, it will be interesting to see if the first high-speed rail exports will be made to developing countries such as Poland this year, 15 years after the localization of KTX high-speed trains.
According to industry sources on July 26, Hyundai Rotem received more than 3 trillion won in orders for railway solutions at home and abroad in the first half of this year, including the order for railway cars worth 1 trillion won from Australia. This has been the largest ever. As of the first half of the year, its order backlog in the railroad sector was close to 10 trillion won.
Hyundai Rotem’s three business areas are railroads, defense solutions, and eco-plants. Among them, the railway sector is a business that manufactures, supplies, and maintains railway cars, high-speed trains (over 200kph), light railway trains and trams (streetcars).
Observing orders in the first half of the year in the railroad sector, Hyundai Rotem won a railway car supply project from the Queensland state government in Australia in June by forming a consortium with local railroad company Downer. The order is worth 1.2164 trillion won and is the largest ever for a single project. The vehicles will be delivered by 2026.
Hyundai Rotem has exported rail cars to a total of 38 countries, including India and Brazil, starting with Indonesia in 1990. Last year, the company won rail car projects totaling 1.178 trillion won in Egypt (757 billion won), Taiwan (156 billion won), and others.
When a power-distributed high-speed train with a maximum speed of 320 kph ordered by KORAIL and SR is commercialized next year, Hyundai Rotem will have both technologies along with power-concentrated technology for KTX Sancheon trains. Only a small number of countries, including France and Germany, have both technologies. More than 70 percent of the global high-speed railway market is occupied by power-distributed high-speed trains.
To date, Korea has not exported any high-speed rail. The high-speed railroad market is dominated by manufacturers such as France’s Alstom, which manufactures the TGV; Germany’s Siemens, which manufactures the Velaro; China’s CRRC, the world’s largest rail car manufacturer; and Canada-based multinational company Bonvardier.
Hyundai Rotem’s high-speed railway export destination targets include Saudi Arabia, which is promoting the world’s largest urban construction project (Neom City); Poland (a high speed railway for a new airport), which promised infrastructure investment cooperation with Korea at a recent summit meeting; Ukraine, which is actively discussing post-war reconstruction; and developing countries in Asia. Among these, Poland is a partner in the railway and defense sectors. Hyundai Rotem is supplying 123 units of trams worth 33.58 billion won for a tram project in Warsaw, Poland, after landing the order in 2019. A total of 28 K2 tanks were delivered early to the country as well, building trust between Korea and Poland. The company is also pursuing a contract to supply an additional 820 K2 tanks, 500 of which will be produced locally in Poland.