January was a very slow month for South Korean shipbuilders as the country’s big three failed to book any new ship orders, Yonhap reported citing industry sources.
This is the first time that no orders were received in January, despite the fact that this is typically a very slow month with respect to new orders.
The blank order-book adds to the woes of the big three, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), as they reported major losses amid industry slump.
Earlier this week, SHI posted a KRW 1.2 trillion (USD 998 million) net profit loss for the financial year ending December 31st, plunging from last year’s KRW 147 bn profit.
Samsung Heavy joined its compatriot duo, DSME and HHI, whose results were hit hard over the past year amid the overall industry downturn and delays in construction of vessels for the offshore industry which is experiencing a downturn of its own prompted by plunging oil prices.
As a result, the three shipbuilders were forced to cut their order targets for 2016. Hyundai Heavy set its order target at USD 19.5 billion in 2016, compared to last year’s target of almost USD 23 billion. DSME and SHI also cut their targets, eyeing USD 10 billion worth of new orders for this year.
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