삼성중공업 첫 해외 조선소 건립에 1조원 투자

Published : Sept 30, 2014 - 12:36 Updated : Oct 6, 2014 - 17:24

삼성중공업이 오는 2017년까지 1조원을 투자해 첫 해외 조선소 설립을 추진한다.

삼성중공업은 상대적으로 마진율이 낮은 소형 선박을 해외 공장에서 생산해 비용 절감을 꾀하는 한편 국내 사업장을 해양플랜트와 고부가가치 선박 제조 전문조선소로 성장시킬 계획인 것으로 알려졌다.

전태흥 삼성중공업 최고재무책임자

전태흥 삼성중공업 최고재무책임자 (CFO) 는 29일 블룸버그와의 인터뷰에서 인도네시아, 베트남, 말레이시아를 해외 공장 후보지로 검토 중에 있다고 밝히면서 해외 공장 건설 계획이 늦어도 올해 안으로 마무리될 예정이라고 말했다.

전 CFO는 해양시추선과 생산설비에 대한 수요가 늘어나 2015년에는 150억 달러 규모의 해외 수주를 목표로 하고 있다고 밝혔다. 올해 삼성중공업이 지난달 말까지 벌어들인 수주액은 55억 달러로 절반이상이 해양플랜트 수주를 통해 따낸 금액이다.

이번 해외 건설 추진은 해외 저가수주 프로젝트로 인해 지난해 1조원이 넘는 영업손실을 기록한 삼성중공업이 오는 12월 1일 삼성엔지니어링과의 합병을 앞두고 사업 재조정을 통해 잠재적 부실을 털어내고 지역,사업별 우선순위를 정해 추진하기 위한 움직임으로 해석된다.

전 CFO는 “앞으로 수익성 있는 해양 설비 사업을 수주하겠다”며 “지난 경험들로 비용 효율적인 사업의 필요성에 대해 배웠다”고 전했다.

(코리아헤럴드/박한나 기자)

<관련 영문 기사>

Samsung Heavy to build first overseas facility

Samsung Heavy Industries, a global leading shipbuilder, will spend 1 trillion won ($950 million) to build the company’s first overseas shipyard by 2017 as a part of its plans to revamp manufacturing operations, according to a high-ranking Samsung official.

The South Korean company is hoping to cut costs by producing lower-margin vessels at the overseas yard, while its domestic operations focus on upstream oil and gas projects.

“We believe there will be demand for offshore oil and gas projects in the long term,” said Chun Tae-heung, chief financial officer of Samsung Heavy Industries in an interview with the foreign press. “We want to make room at our shipyard in Korea to focus more on offshore and building higher-value ships.”

Chun said that Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia are under consideration for the manufacturing facility site. Plans for the overseas yard will be finalized this year.

The comments from Chun came after Samsung Heavy said this month it will merge with Samsung Engineering to create a company that can compete more effectively with European rivals.

On Tuesday, the company’s CEO Park Dae-young said the merged entity will aim for sales of 40 trillion won by 2020, stressing that the merger deal will be the key to overcoming crises.

Demand for floating drilling and production facilities is expected to increase as oil companies go into deeper and harsher areas to look for new fields. Samsung Heavy expects to win at least $15 billion in new orders in 2015, Chun said. The company has received $5.5 billion of orders so far this year, of which more than half are for offshore products.

Samsung Heavy reported an operating loss of 362.5 billion won in the first quarter of this year after setting aside around 500 billion won for losses expected on offshore projects, but turned a profit in the second quarter.

“We will from now on win offshore projects that are profitable,” Chun said, adding that the firm has learned to be more cost-effective from previous projects.

By Park Han-na and news reports
(hnpark@heraldcorp.com)