Hyundai Engineering and Construction has won an order for a $3.47 billon refinery expansion and facility upgrade in Venezuela, expanding its presence in the Latin American market with its goal to earn $11 billion in overseas construction orders this year.
A consortium led by Hyundai E&C secured the Puerto La Cruz refinery plant order placed by Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA, the builder said on Monday.
An aerial view of the Puerto La Cruz refinery in Venezuela. (Hyundai E&C)
“The effort to expand our business to emerging markets from the saturated Middle East market resulted in clinching a series of contracts in South American nations,” an official of Hyundai E&C told The Korea Herald.
This is the third major project that the company has secured since Hyundai E&C first made inroads into the Venezuelan market in 2012.
Hyundai E&C has been focusing on improving its profitability and optimizing the new global network it gained after it was incorporated into Hyundai Motor Group in 2011.
“Based on the experience and know-how accumulated in construction, Hyundai Motor Group’s global network has been helpful to win overseas contracts,” the official said.
As a part of the expansion plan for the Latin American market, the builder has set up branches in Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Chile to dominate the market in advance.
With the Puerto La Cruz refinery plant project, Hyundai E&C has won the largest amount in oversea contracts among other local builders in the first half of the year, according to a report by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, released on Monday.
As of Monday, Hyundai E&C has secured six orders this year, worth $6 billion in total, including a $650 million Chacao Channel order in Chile and Iraq’s Karbala Refinery Project.
By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)