[Sponsored Report] $1.05B Saudi project for Hanwha

Korea building more overseas

Despite Middle East unrest, Korean construction firms are expected to reach $70 billion in overseas construction projects this year, a goal set by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

The International Contractors Association of Korea said local companies received $12.66 billion in overseas construction orders in the first quarter, less than half of the record $28 billion from a year earlier.

But local construction firms were awarded projects worth $6.85 billion from Saudi Arabia and $1.02 billion from the UAE. Total construction orders from the Middle East amounted to $9.27 billion - 73.3 percent of Korea’s total overseas construction projects.

Companies also received $150 million in orders from Central and South America and $548 million orders from Africa. But total overseas construction orders from Asia outside the Middle East decreased 61 percent to just $2.19 billion, with orders from Europe declining 51 percent to $82 million. The Pacific North American region showed an 11 percent increase at $410 million.

Overseas construction orders by country: Saudi Arabia, $6.85 billion; UAE, $1.02 billion; Turkey, $717 million; Vietnam, $644 million; Singapore, $444 million; U.S., $408 million; Bangladesh, $370 million; Nigeria, $347 million; Kuwait, $224 million; Iraq, $219 million.

Orders by sector: industrial construction, $9.26 billion; civil engineering, $1.78 billion; construction, $1.50 billion.

Orders by company: Samsung Engineering, $3.76 billion; SK E&C, $2.64 billion; Daewoo E&C, $1.39 billion; DK Engineering, $1 billion.

By Lee Ji-hyun [concordia@joongang.co.kr]

Hanwha E&C is on track with its overseas construction contracts.

Kim Hyun-chung, vice chairman and CEO of Hanwha E&C (right), and Saud Bin Abdullah, chairman of MARAFIQ, pose for a photo at the ceremony.

Recently, it won a $1.05 billion contract for the Saudi MARAFIQ Yanbu II Power & Water Project. The contract ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, was attended by Hanwha E&C Vice Chairman and CEO Kim Hyun-chung, MARAFIQ Chairman Saud Bin Abdullah and MARAFIQ President Thamer S. Al-sharhan. To be completed in 2014, the project will be in Yanbu, the country’s largest industrial estate, with 3 units of STG with generating capacity of 230MW, 890 tons of boiler (heavy oil fired type) and a desalination plant built in EPC Turn-Key (a package deal that involves design, procurement and construction) method, providing up to 60,000 tons of water per day.

MARAFIQ was founded to provide power and water in Jubail and Yanbu. The company supplies 25 percent of power and water generated in Saudi Arabia.

Hanwha E&C is 60 percent complete with its $750 million Saudi MARAFIQ Yanbu I Power Plant, which was signed in 2009. Hanwha was highly rated by MARAFIQ for dealing with unfavorable factors, like confined building site as well as a short completion timeline. The Saudi MARAFIQ Yanbu II Power & Water Project will be located 12km away from Yanbu I Power Plant.

Hanwha outrivaled domestic and overseas firms with its EPC business performance capacity. Kim Hyun-chung, Hanwha E&C vice chairman and CEO, has stated that the company “believes the ordering organization’s full confidence in Hanwha after we built the Yanbu I Power Plant had a positive effect on their decision-making.”

Kim also said that Hanwha plans to “diversify the types of overseas plant construction based on technical skills and experience accumulated through our Middle East plants and chemical EPC plants.” Indeed, Hanwha looks to make noticeable gains in overseas civil and construction projects.

Hanwha is in the midst of five projects, including $750 million Saudi MARAFIQ Yanbu I Power Plant, oil refinery in Arzew, Algeria ($400 million), and LPG filling plant in Kuwait. Hanwha is getting off on the right start for its overseas business in 2011 with a $220 million chemical plant contract in Kuwait in March.