Hyundai Heavy Closes Onsan offshore
Hyundai Heavy Industries has temporarily shut one of its two factories making offshore oil rigs - Onsan plant in South Korea - due to downturn in the global oil and gas industry. The closure Onsan underscores the dire state of the country’s big shipbuilders as dearth of orders as the crude price rout forces international oil companies to cut spending. “Our ongoing projects will complete in March. From then we do not have a further order to work on, and the operation will stop until we get a new one,” a company spokesman told local media. But Korean Times quotes a HHI spokesman saying: "The plant will complete its last order in late March, and then it has no more orders to work on ... So, we decided to utilize the facility for other purposes.
Korean Shipbuilding Faces Tough Future
According to a May 12 report from The Korean Times, Korean Shipbuilding companies face a tough future. In the 2000s, the shipbuilding business was a cash cow for Korea Inc., which accommodates many of the world's foremost players ― Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, STX Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The segment was hit hard by the global financial distress. Yearly orders of new ships shrank to about 600 in 2009 from 5,000 in 2007. Although the major shipyards have recovered somewhat this year they will face difficult times down the road. Observers said demand for new vessels is not likely to rebound to more than 2,000 any time soon. Ships do not wear out overnight and the resumption of overall demand will be limited.
Doosan to Doubles Profit in 2010
According to a Jan. 3 report from The Korean Times, Doosan Group has set this year's operating profit target at $1.4b, up 100 percent from 2009, group chairman Park Yong-hyun said Dec. 31. The conglomorate is aiming to reap $1.7b in total sales for 2010, up 14 percent from a year earlier, by applying selection and concentration strategy, he said. (Source: The Korean Times)
