Middle East drives Seoul’s H1 overseas plant orders

09 July 2007 10:54  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--South Korean engineering companies received $5.7bn worth of overseas petrochemical plant orders in the first half of 2007, up 179% from the same period a year ago, a joint report said on Monday.

Increased demand for petrochemical facilities from Middle East and Asian countries keen to add value to their oil-based industries drove the surge in demand, the report from the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry and the Korea Plant Industries Association said.

Total overseas plant orders rose 73% to $18.7bn from January to June 2007 from a year ago, largely due to continuously rising demand in the development of new plants from the Middle East regions.

By region, plant orders from oil-producing nations such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait increased 3.4 times from a year ago to $10.6bn, accounting for 57% of total plant orders received in the first six months of 2007.

Asian countries such as India, Singapore and Thailand also followed suit, with plant orders increasing by 4 times to $3.6bn, the agencies said.

Major projects clinched in the first half of 2007 included a $1bn polycarbonate (PC) plant in Saudi Arabia by Saudi Kayan Petrochemical, which was awarded to Daelim Industrial, and a $721m methanol plant in Oman by Salalah Methanol, which was awarded to GS Engineering and Construction.

Samsung Engineering was awarded the latest large-scale project, to build an ammonia facility for Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) for won (W) 636.5bn ($691.1m), it said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

The unit is expected to be complete by December 2010.

There were good prospects for further overseas plant orders in South Korea in the coming years due to the continued expansions required at the facilities of oil-producing nations, the spokesperson with the ministry said, and added that an order book worth $30bn for 2007 would not be too hard to achieve.

($1 = W920.97)

By: Gina Myung
+65 6780 4359

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