Not for the first time the CEO of Korean shipyard giant Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) has said there’s only room for two, not three, big shipbuilders on home soil.
At a press briefing yesterday, Jung Sung-leep, who has presided over a dramatic turnaround taking DSME from near oblivion to having the largest orderbook in the world, admitted that global conditions for shipbuilding mean Koreans will likely need to consolidate further.
Jung reiterated comments he first made in March this year, saying he feels South Korea should have just two big shipbuilders rather than the current three – DSME, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries – considering the oversupply in the market and competition with giant Chinese shipbuilders.
“My ultimate goal is to make DSME an attractive company for other companies to be interested in acquiring,” Jung said.
DSME has snared orders worth $4.4bn so far this year, well on course to hit its $7.3bn sales target.
A massively depleted orderbook and an accounting scandal saw DSME skirt with closure a couple of years ago.
