Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s leading shipyard, said Monday (Feb. 4) that it has won a deal valued at 794 billion won ($843 million) to build six container ships.
The deal with a European shipping company calls on Hyundai Heavy to deliver the vessels by May 2011, the shipbuilder said in a regulatory filing.
Shares of Hyundai Heavy were trading at 343,500 won as of 10:15 a.m., up 5.53 percent.
Shipyards in Korea, the world’s largest shipbuilding nation, have received record orders in recent years as demand has surged for vessels to transport raw materials to China and goods to the rest of the world. The shipbuilders have enough orders to keep them busy for about four years. To meet rising shipbuilding orders, Hyundai Heavy is building two more docks.
The shipbuilder delivered 81 vessels valued at $6.85 billion last year, compared with 73 vessels worth $4.81 billion in 2006.
This year, Hyundai Heavy plans to deliver 134 ships. The company expects to win $27.4 billion worth of orders this year.