132 billion! South Korea's shipbuilding and marine industry aims to increase orders by 34% year-on-year this year

On January 3rd, HD Korea Shipbuilding Ocean, a subsidiary of HD Hyundai Group, the largest shipbuilding company in South Korea, announced that its annual target value for shipbuilding and marine engineering business in 2025 is set at $18.05 billion (approximately RMB 132 billion), which is 33.7% higher than the target value of $13.5 billion in 2024.

In 2024, HD Korea Shipbuilding&Marine undertook a total of 181 new ship orders worth 20.56 billion US dollars (approximately 149.2 billion yuan), achieving 152.2% of the annual order target. This is also the fourth consecutive year since 2021 that the company has received orders exceeding $20 billion. These orders include 8 large LNG ships, 24 ultra large liquid ammonia carriers (VLACs), 28 container ships, 8 VLGCs, 4 medium ammonia dual fuel natural gas carriers (MGCs), 14 medium LPG ships, 62 product oil tankers, 3 ultra large ethane carriers (VLECs), 6 VLCCs, 7 crude oil carriers, 2 liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2) carriers, 2 motor transport ships (PCTCs), 4 specialty ships, 7 LNG refueling ships, 1 offshore platform upper module, and 1 floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU).

Industry insiders in South Korea have stated that among the new ship orders undertaken by HD Korea Shipbuilding Ocean in 2024, the main ship type is gas transport ships. In 2025, the market for gas transport ship orders will continue to maintain a stable trend.

In 2025, the three shipbuilding subsidiaries under HD Korea Shipbuilding Ocean have set their order targets of $9.751 billion for HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (excluding Hyundai Motor Corporation, HHI-EMD), $3.8 billion for HD Hyundai Owari, and $4.5 billion for HD Hyundai Sanhu.

In addition, HD Korea Shipbuilding Marine has set its revenue target for this year at 20.948 billion US dollars (approximately 153.2 billion yuan).

The "Outlook for Shipping and Shipbuilding Industry 2025" report previously released by the Overseas Economic Research Institute of the Export Import Bank of Korea predicts that the global new ship order volume in 2025 will be 42 million Modified Gross Tonnes (CGT), a decrease of 28.8% compared to 59 million CGT in 2024.

HD Korea Shipbuilding and Marine related personnel stated, "Considering that the market for new orders for environmentally friendly ships will continue, the company has set a target for accepting orders by 2025. Currently, the company has ensured a stable order volume, so it will continue to adopt a selective order strategy based on profitability

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the largest shipbuilding subsidiary of HD Korea Shipbuilding&Marine, also released its performance targets for this year on the same day. The annual target amount for orders (including Hyundai Motor Corporation, HHI-EMD) is 12.57 billion US dollars (approximately 91.9 billion yuan), and the operating revenue is 1.579 trillion Korean won (approximately 76.3 billion yuan).

Although the overall shipbuilding market will maintain a good trend in 2025, the company should strive for technological innovation to ensure an advantage in fierce competition with China. In 2024, the global shipbuilding market's new ship orders reached their highest level since 2007, continuing a good trend. However, due to China's low price offensive, South Korea's market share is declining, which is worrying, "said Li Xiangjun and Lu Zhenlu, representative directors and president of HD Modern Heavy Industry, in their New Year's greetings

Li Xiangjun and Lu Zhenlu pointed out that HD Modern Heavy Industry has ensured order volume for more than 3 years and strategically selected orders centered on high value-added gas transport ships. To ensure future market competitiveness, we need to work harder now. This requires us to have a stable production system, focus on improving production efficiency and reducing costs. In addition, in order to ensure our advantage in the fierce competition with China, we are required to make efforts in technological innovation, while also paying attention to allowing foreign workers to take root and exert their strength on site

In terms of special ships (military vessels) business, Li Xiangjun and Lu Zhenlu said, "The company should further strengthen its global competitiveness, actively explore overseas markets such as the United States, Canada, and Poland by 2025, and maintain continuous growth in the MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) field

Li Xiangjun and Lu Zhenlu finally stated, "Safety is an absolute value that cannot be compromised. Only by working together can we achieve real results. All employees should practice safety first and strive to make HD Modern Heavy Industry a more trusted enterprise