Overseas Plant Orders Up 42 percent in First Quarter

According to the data, local companies’ overseas plant order amounts have surged this year.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on April 7 that the first quarter posted overseas plant orders at US$16.8 billion, 42.1 percent up from last year’s US$11.8 billion.

By region, the Middle East accounted for 51.9 percent with an order total of US$8.724 billion.

The figure includes Iraq’s Karbala oil refinery contract (US$6.04 billion) won by a consortium among Hyundai Engineering Construction Co., SK Engineering Construction Co., GS Engineering Construction Co., and Hyundai Engineering Co.

Other regions include Africa, with orders of US$5.1 billion, followed by Asia with US$2.1 billion and the Americas with US$700 million.

The government is aiming at US$70 billion for this year’s overseas plant ordering, and intends to heavily support it.

In the meantime, on the same day the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation revealed that it will provide US$1.1 billion in export financing (trade insurance) to a chemical plant construction project in Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan is rich in natural resources, as it is number four in natural gas burial amount in the world.

The project is to build chemical product producing facilities using natural gas as raw material produced in the Caspian sea mines in Kiyanly, in the west coast of Turkmenistan.

The US$3 billion project is to be completed by 2018 by a consortium consisting of LG International Corp., Hyundai Engineering Co., Hyundai Engineering Construction Co., and Japan’s Toyo Engineering Co.