Hanwha E&C secures most orders overseas

This is an artist’s impression of Bismayah new city in Iraq, which will take about seven years to be completed by Hanwha Engineering & Construction. Courtesy of Hanwha

Hanwha Engineering & Construction (E&C), a latecomer among domestic construction firms that have established a presence abroad, has emerged as a major player this year with its accumulated orders surpassing those of other builders.

On Wednesday, the building arm of Hanwha Group secured a $585 million order to construct an oil refinery and terminal in Saudi Arabia.

The news came six months after the builder won a mega deal in Iraq worth $8 billion to build a massive housing complex near the capital city of Baghdad.

It was the single largest construction contract ever won by a Korean builder.

Under the latest deal with Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, Hanwha E&C will construct the terminal, capable of processing 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day by 2016 in Saudi’s southwestern city of Jazan near the Red Sea.

The project includes some of the most complicated construction procedures known such as building mooring facilities and a 9-kilometer underwater pipe to secure an oil supply from an oil tanker.

This has pushed up the combined value of orders won by Hanwha abroad to $8.6 billion so far this year, the largest amount secured among domestic construction firms.

“We have been able to win a number of building orders in Saudi Arabia and other countries under the strong leadership of group chairman Kim Seungyoun,” said Hanwha E&C CEO Kim Hyun-chung said. “Despite our status as a latecomer in the global construction market, we have emerged as a major builder thanks to chairman Kim’s global management strategies and future-oriented vision.”

“We aim to become one of the world’s top 100 builders by 2015. To achieve the goal, we will make more efforts to secure engineering procurement construction (EPC) projects in the field of petrochemical and power generation plants overseas,” CEO Kim said.

“We will continue to make inroads into new markets and be involved in more schemes that create solar and other renewable energy power plants.” Hanwha E&C seeks to generate over 40 percent of its revenue overseas by 2015,” Kim said.

In May, the builder signed a contract with the Iraqi government to build 100,000 houses and other urban infrastructure in Bismayah, a suburb located about 10 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. The new city will be built on 1,830 hectares and take seven years to complete.

The company expects this mega project will provide its business partners with lucrative opportunities, adding it will present a great chance for local jobseekers wanting to work overseas, helping to propel the nationwide job creation campaign.

Building the new city is part of Iraq’s reconstruction efforts following the U.S. invasion in 2003 and the subsequent civil war.

Hanwha has been looking to play a larger role in Iraq’s rebuilding efforts by taking part in the construction of new towns and various industrial infrastructure. <The Korea Times/Lee Hyo-sik>