Hyundai Heavy's October orders dive 57 pct

SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's largest shipbuilder, said Thursday that its orders sank 57 percent in October from a year earlier on falling demand for new ships, reflecting a declining shipbuilding cycle.

The orders received last month fell to US$325 million from $758 million a year
earlier, the shipyard said in a regulatory filing.
The company said it did not receive new orders for ships this month. Contracts
for marine engines plunged 99 percent to $2 million last month and those for
construction equipment fell 35 percent to $169 million, it said. Orders for
offshore platforms more than doubled to $15 million, according to Hyundai Heavy.
In the first 10 months of the year, Hyundai Heavy's orders gained 20 percent to
$26.1 billion.
Sales last month increased 27 percent to 1.7 trillion won ($1.1 billion) as it
built high-priced vessels. In the January-October period, sales climbed 24
percent to 15.7 trillion won.
Shares of Hyundai Heavy rose by the daily limit of 15 percent, closing at 143,500
won before the announcement.
South Korea, home to seven of the world's 10 largest shipbuilders, gobbled up
orders placed globally on rising demand for cargo vessels.
But in recent months new shipbuilding orders have virtually dried up as the
global economy slides into its worst slump in years.
Local banks are also reluctant to extend financing for orders. Earlier in the
day, the Korea Shipbuilders' Association asked banks to extend maturity of 3
trillion won worth of debts held by the local shipbuilders.