South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, is jetting back home having concluded an incredibly successful trade mission to Qatar with Korean shipyards hauling in record orders for LNG carriers.
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries confirmed a record-breaking $3.9bn deal to build 17 LNG carriers for QatarEnergy on the trip, while Hanwha Ocean and Samsung Heavy Industries are in talks on prices for an additional 30 LNG ships, filling out prized building slots at South Korea’s top three yards for years to come.
HD Hyundai had to take a cut-price deal for this bumper contract, first reported by Splash a month ago, with the ships inked working out at $229.4m each, about 13% lower than the recent price of a new LNG tanker.
As a part of Qatar National Vision 2030, the country aims to increase its LNG production capacity to 126m tons a year by 2027 from the current 77m tons through the North Field expansion project, which will require more vessels.
QatarEnergy ordered 65 LNG carriers last year, of which South Korean shipbuilders won deals for 54 vessels and Chinese companies took the rest.
