HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (009540.KS), the intermediate shipbuilding holding company of HD Hyundai (267250.KS), said in a regulatory filing on the 24th that it recently signed a contract to build four liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers for a shipping company based in Oceania. The contract is valued at 515.4 billion won ($382 million).
The vessels will be built at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and are scheduled for delivery by the first half of 2030. Including this order, HD Korea Shipbuilding has amassed a total of 162 vessels worth $18.08 billion (about 24.97 trillion won). That amounts to 77.6% of its annual order target of $23.31 billion (about 32.21 trillion won).
By vessel type, carriers for LPG, ammonia and liquefied carbon dioxide, together with product carriers (PC vessels), accounted for the largest share at 50 vessels each. They were followed by 30 container ships, 17 liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, 11 crude oil carriers, two pure car and truck carriers (PCTC vessels), and two icebreakers and floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs).
Meanwhile, the industry expects HD Korea Shipbuilding to win additional LPG carrier orders. U.S. LPG exports to Asia are rising, while El Niño — a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific — has created passage restrictions at the Panama Canal. As LPG carriers detour around the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Panama Canal, sailing distances have increased, lowering vessel turnover and creating additional demand for carriers.
