S. Korea’s overseas plant orders hit 8-yr high in 2023

SEOUL, Overseas orders for industrial plants won by South Korean builders reached an eight-year high in 2023, thanks largely to brisk demand from the Middle East, data showed Monday. Local construction firms clinched US$30.23 billion worth of plant orders from abroad last year, up 25 percent from the previous year, according to the commerce ministry data. It hovered above the government target of $30 billion and marked the highest yearly amount since the $36.47 billion won in 2015. The jump came as orders from Middle Eastern and African countries rose sharply from a year earlier. Plant orders from the Middle East came to $11.42 billion last year, accounting for 37.8 percent of the total. The ministry said the surge got a boost from South Korea's summit meetings with three Middle Eastern countries over the past year. The Americas came next with $10.14 billion, or 33.5 percent of the total, followed by Asia with $4.95 billion, or 16.4 percent. The single-largest deal was Hyundai Engineering and Construct ion Co.'s $5 billion project to build a mega petrochemical plant in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. The ministry said it will ramp up efforts to help local construction companies win more overseas plant orders amid a boom in the Middle East and growing demand from new industries. Source: Yonhap News Agency