Hyundai Heavy orders slump to $4.1 billion

South Korean shipbuilding major Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) said its orders for the first half of 2016 showed a downwards trend to $4.1 billion.

This record, according to the company represents a 44.4 per cent drop compared to the results for the same period last year when the company recorded close to $7.4 billion orders.

HHI’s shipbuilding sector received nearly 69 per cent less orders in the first six months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.

New orders in the first six months of the current year amounted to $992 million, as compared to around $3.2 billion reported in the first half of 2015.

The shipbuilder’s offshore sector also suffered in the period, with the orders being more than half compared to first half of 2015, from $888 million to $417 million.

The bleak interim report comes as the company’s unionized workers teamed up with workers from seven other shipbuilding companies to organize a joint industrial action against self-restructuring measures that are to be carried out throughout the industry.

HHI plans to implement a $3 billion self-rescue plan, which includes the sale of its shares of Hyundai Motor and KCC, its stakes in Hyundai Avancis, and certain properties and receivables.

The shipbuilder also plans to make further savings with employee salary cuts and work-sharing.