S. Korean companies win record industrial plant orders in 2009

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details from para 3; ADDS with new information from para 10)
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean companies secured record-high industrial
plant orders from overseas in 2009 due to a surge in demand from oil-rich
countries and steady global economic recovery, a government report showed Monday.
The combined value of plant orders received by local firms reached US$46.3
billion last year, up 0.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the report
released by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.
"The growth was fueled mainly by a sharp rise in orders for large industrial
infrastructure projects in the oil and gas sectors," the ministry said.
It said oil and gas related plant orders accounted for 67 percent of the total
secured for the entire year. Most of the orders were won in the second half
following a near 70 percent drop in the first six months of the cited year.
In the October-December period, orders reached an all-time quarterly high of
$22.9 billion as rising oil prices fueled demand from Middle Eastern countries.
Orders from such countries as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait and Iran reached $31.1 billion for an on-year gain of 55.4 percent.
Local companies secured multibillion dollar contracts such as the UAE's Ruwais
and Saudi Arabia's Jubail oil refinery projects last year. The Ruwais plant is
worth $9.7 billion, with the Jubail project estimated to bring in $2.4 billion to
local contractors.
South Korean businesses, however, said plant orders from Europe and North America
plunged 79.6 percent and 75.9 percent vis-a-vis 2008 to $1.1 billion and $2.9
billion respectively.
The drop in orders from advanced industrialized countries was due to the sharp
falling off in demand for expensive drill ships and so-called floating production
storage and offloading platforms.
By business sector, oil and gas related orders soared 236.6 percent year-on-year
to $27.8 billion with energy generation, marine platforms, petrochemicals and
industrial facilities all reporting drops in overseas orders.
The ministry predicted local companies are expected to clinch plant orders
exceeding $50 billion in 2010.
It said that the signing of the UAE's nuclear reactor project will result in
follow-up orders reaching $20 billion in the first half.
South Korean companies are also aiming to win the right to build the Yanbu oil
refinery plant in Saudi Arabia worth $10 billion and take part in the "Clean Fuel
2020" project being pursued by Kuwait.
The ministry in charge of the country's industrial policies, meanwhile, said it
will set up a plant support center in the Commonwealth of Independent States by
June so South Korean companies can gain market access to the Central Asian
region, which could add $50 billion in fresh orders in the new year. Such centers
are already being run in Dubai, New Delhi, and Sao Paulo.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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