Shares of major Korean construction companies were skyrocketing on Friday on the back of a sign of recovery in housing market and a series of massive overseas orders.

“The rebound in overseas plants orders, in particular, is expected to give a big hand to lift the industry throughout the year,” industry sources said.

This month, a group of South Korean builders, led by Hyundai Engineering and GS Engineering, secured a $6.04 billion contract to build an oil refinery in Iraq.

So far this year, local builders are estimated to have received overseas orders totaling more than $13 billion.

“Many local builders are forecast to turn around this year after suffering massive losses last year,” said Park Yong-hee, an analyst at E-trade Securities. “Rising home prices and overseas orders are positive for them,”

Last year, overseas construction orders clinched by South Korean builders reached $65.2 billion won, the second highest in the country’s history, with the number of overseas orders and countries placing the orders also increasing, industry data showed. South Korean builders are expected to win overseas orders of more than $70 billion this year partly on growth of the overall global market. (Yonhap)