South Korean infrastructure majors including Samsung E&A, GS Engineering and Hyundai, have secured overseas contracts worth $34 billion in 2024 for industrial plant construction in 2024, the highest amount in nearly 10 years, reported Yonhap citing senior Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy officials.

 

The figure represents a 12.7% increase from $30.2 billion recorded in 2023, and is the largest since $36.4 billion posted in 2015, it stated.

 

The ministry attributed the strong performance to projects won in the Middle East, which amounted to $15.52 billion, accounting for 46% of the total.

 

In April, Samsung E&A Co. and GS Engineering & Construction Corp. jointly secured a $7.3 billion contract to expand a gas plant in Saudi Arabia.

 

In November, Samsung C&T Corp clinched an agreement worth $2.84 billion to construct a power plant in Qatar. Upon its planned completion in 2029, the facility will supply 16 per cent of Qatar's total electricity and 17 percent of the country's desalinated water, said the Yonhap report.

 

These Korean companies also made progress in diversifying their portfolios to include the European and Southeast Asian markets in 2024.

 

In October, Hyundai Engineering Co. signed a $1.68 billion deal in Serbia for the construction of a solar energy facility, while Samsung E&A secured a $950 million project in December to build a biorefinery in Malaysia.