Daewoo E&C wins $2.67 port facilities deal in Iraq

[Photo provided by Daewoo E&C Co.]

South Korea¡¯s Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. (Daewoo E&C) has secured a package of five deals worth 2.9 trillion won ($2.67 billion) to build facilities for a large-scale port in Iraq.

Daewoo E&C announced on Monday that it signed a package of deals with the General Company for Ports of Iraq for the Al Faw Grand Port project. Under the deal, Daewoo E&C will be responsible for the construction of inner wall of the container terminal, terminal dredging and reclamation, road linking to the city, main transportation passage at the new port, and Khor Al Zubair tunnel.

Shares of Daewoo E&C were trading 4.66 percent higher on Tuesday at 5,390 won.

Daewoo E&C had clinched five deals for the new port in 2013 including building a seawall. Daewoo E&C has secured total 10 deals worth 4.1 trillion won for the project.

An unnamed official from Daewoo E&C said that the company has been able to go into a private contract as it kept up close ties with the Iraqi government. The package is expected to help improve the company¡¯s financial conditions as a private deal translates into greater profit than a public tender deal, the official added.

The Al Faw Grand Port project is a major state initiative. The country has land area of 438,000 square kilometers, which is more than four times than that of Korea but it is a landlocked region without waters as its seashore is only many kilometers along the borderline of Kuwait and Iran. The new port project is aimed at opening a sea route across the Persian Gulf.

Daewoo E&C expected more orders from the project such as those involving building a connecting railroad, creating a port hinterland, and new naval base.

Despite adverse business environment due to Covid-19 and plunge in international oil prices, Daewoo E&C won large overseas deals in 2020 such as the Nigeria LNG Train 7 project and Mass Rapid Transit station project in Singapore.

Last year, Daewoo E&C has secured overseas deals worth total 5.88 trillion won, topping its annual target of 5.069 trillion won.

[¨Ï Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]