Overseas construction orders won by South Korean companies rose 6 percent in
March from a year earlier, helped by large building contracts secured in the
Middle East and South Asia, data showed Tuesday.
The data by the
Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs showed local builders signed
deals totaling US$5.5 billion last month, compared with $5.2 billion a year
earlier.
Last month's gain comes after orders dropped sharply in
January and February of this year, which raised alarm bells in the construction
industry as a whole.
March's total represents a 4.6-fold gain from
February when construction companies won just $1.2 billion in overseas deals.
The number for January stood at $1.5 billion.
The ministry attributed
last month's strong showing to large projects won by Hyundai Engineering and
Construction Co., Samsung Engineering Co. and Doosan Heavy Industry and
Construction Co.
Hyundai won the $1.5 billion Maaden alumina refinery
contract, while Samsung secured a $1 billion oil field development project in
Iraq. Doosan contributed by sealing an $800 million thermal power plant building
contract in India.
The latest data showed that half of all building
orders secured in March were from countries in the Middle East, with 33 percent
and 11 percent being secured in Asia and Latin America, respectively.
Of the building contracts signed, 71 percent or $5.8 billion worth were
industrial plant construction.
The ministry, meanwhile, said local
builders predicted the first-half contract number to hit $27.0 billion, up from
$25.3 billion reached in the January-June period of 2011. For the whole year,
local builders expect overseas orders to hit $70 billion from $59.1 billion last
year, it added.
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