Hyundai Heavy misses ship order target

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s biggest shipbuilder, missed its target for new contracts for a second year as the credit crisis and shrinking global trade reduced demand for vessels. The shipyard won $10.6 billion worth of new orders for ships, marine engines and other products this year, compared with the $21.1 billion target, the Ulsan, South Korea-based company said today in a regulatory filing. This year’s new contracts are 61 percent less than a year earlier, it added.
CMA CGM SA and China Ocean Shipping Group Co. are among companies that canceled orders and sought delays in delivery as a slump in rates pushed sea-carriers into losses. Global orders have slumped since September last year because economic recession caused consumers to spend less and an overcapacity of new vessels from five years of record orders caused shipping lines to cut sailings.
Hyundai Heavy’s sales this year rose 6.9 percent to a record 21.3 trillion won ($18 billion), the company said. That lagged behind a target of 22.9 trillion won.