KDB: Korea's major industries likely to post negative growth

The Korea Development Bank on Wednesday said the country's major industries could post negative growth in the second half of the year.

The South Korean policy lender said the prospects of shipping lines and shipbuilding are "very bad," while describing those for the car, steel, machinery and construction industries as "a bit bad" in a new report.

South Korean shipbuilders have been under severe financial strain in the face of declining new orders amid a protracted slump in the world's economy.

The KDB said it expects ship orders to plunge 92.3 percent this year from a year earlier. It also said the order backlog could decline 33.5 percent this year from a year earlier.

South Korean shipbuilders have a total of 273 million compensated gross tons worth of order backlog as of the first quarter of this year, which could keep their shipyards busy for 25 months.

The country's three big shipyards -- Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries -- have been implementing massive restructuring programs to tide over mounting losses.

The KDB also said it expects annual production of cars to drop

4.5 percent this year from a year earlier as domestic demand for new cars have shown no signs of growing and exports have been on the decline.

Domestic sales of South Korea-based carmakers plunged 10.6 percent on-year to 121,144 units in July, while their combined overseas sales also suffered a 3.8 percent retreat to 524,380.

The KDB also said overseas orders won by South Korean construction companies could fall 29.1 percent this year from a year earlier due to the impact of low oil prices. (Yonhap)