Samsung Heavy wins $1 billion order for 5 LNG carriers

A liquefied natural gas carrier built by Samsung Heavy Industries. [SAMSUNG HEAVY INDUSTRIES]

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) won a 1.46-trillion-won ($1.04 bilion) order for five liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

SHI received the order from an unidentified shipper in Oceania. The LNG carriers will be in the 174,000-square-meter class and will be delivered starting in December 2027.

With Wednesday’s order, SHI hit $9.2 billion in total orders this year, exceeding its target of $.8.8 billion. This is the second consecutive year that SHI exceeded its target order. Last year, the shipbuilding company recorded $12.2 billion in total orders, 134 percent of its target of $9.1 billion.

Most of SHI’s orders this year were for LNG carriers, which are high value-added and green ships. A total of 35 LNG carriers orders were received by SHI this year, out of the 45 ships ordered overall, an all-time record for LNG carriers ordered.

The market demand for LNG carriers is expected to continue for the time being, according to SHI and Clarksons Research, a British shipbuilding market tracker. Clarksons recently raised its forecast for LNG cargo volume in 2030 to 630 million tons from its original estimate of 580 million tons. Shell forecast LNG shipments at 700 million tons by 2040.

“Continued large orders will lead to sales growth after 2023 and will result in a reduction of fixed costs,” said a spokesperson for SHI. “In addition to improving profitability through raising prices, we expect an earnings turnaround.”

SHI's net loss was 201.6 billion ($141.8 million) in the third quarter, with sales falling 5.7 percent on-year to 1.4 trillion won.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]