Overseas orders won by South Korean builders this year is expected to drop to the lowest level in a decade possibly due to the impact of low oil prices and a protracted global economic slump, a trade association said Thursday.

This year’s combined overseas orders came to $18.47 billion by Wednesday, according to data compiled by the International Contractors Association of Korea.

The figure represents 53.7 percent of the $34.59 billion posted during the same period of last year, and also compares with $47.24 billion during the same period of 2014, the data showed.

The association projected that this year’s overseas construction orders may reach some $30 billion, the lowest since 2006 when the comparable figure was $39.79 billion, it said.