Despite Construction Market Slump, Maintenance Projects Achieve 'Record-Breaking Performance'

All Top 10 Construction Companies Surpass 1 Trillion Won in Orders
Hyundai Construction and 5 Others Achieve Record High Since Founding

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Wanyong] Although the construction industry’s business sentiment index fell to its worst level in 12 years this year, signaling a downturn in the construction market, major construction companies achieved record-breaking performance in maintenance projects (including remodeling). This was thanks to the government and local governments easing permit requirements, as well as numerous large-scale projects centered around the metropolitan area and major provincial cities. The activation of the remodeling market also played a role.

A view of the redevelopment area in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the construction and urban maintenance industry on the 14th, as the construction companies’ order activities for this year have concluded, all top 10 construction companies (based on the 2022 construction capability evaluation) surpassed 1 trillion KRW in order amounts. Among them, six companies?Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, DL E&C, POSCO Engineering & Construction, Lotte Engineering & Construction, and SK Ecoplant?set records for their highest-ever order performance in maintenance projects since their founding.

As uncertainties in the construction market increased due to interest rate hikes and rising raw material prices, construction companies shifted their focus from self-developed projects to maintenance projects. Maintenance projects have longer permit periods and are mostly carried out as contract work, making them less affected by downturns in the real estate market.

This year, Hyundai Engineering & Construction ranked first in maintenance project orders. It secured a total of 14 projects (8 redevelopment, 4 remodeling), achieving an order amount of 9.3395 trillion KRW. This is the highest record ever for a single construction company in maintenance projects.

Second place went to GS Engineering & Construction, which secured 17 projects (14 redevelopment/reconstruction, 3 remodeling) with a performance of 7.1476 trillion KRW. Third place was Daewoo Engineering & Construction, which secured 15 projects with a performance of 5.2716 trillion KRW. DL E&C ranked fourth with 13 projects and 4.8943 trillion KRW in performance.

Fifth place was POSCO Engineering & Construction, achieving an order amount of 4.5892 trillion KRW, with remodeling projects alone (8 projects) accounting for 3.011 trillion KRW. Sixth place went to Lotte Engineering & Construction, which achieved 4.262 trillion KRW from 13 projects. Seventh place was Hyundai Engineering with 2.1647 trillion KRW from 7 projects.

Samsung C&T, ranked first in construction capability evaluation, remained in eighth place with 1.8686 trillion KRW from 5 projects. Samsung C&T has historically not been very active in maintenance projects. Nevertheless, it recorded more than double last year’s order performance of 911.7 billion KRW this year.

Ninth place was SK Ecoplant (9 projects, 1.5207 trillion KRW), and tenth place was HDC Hyundai Development Company (3 projects, 1.0307 trillion KRW).

On the other hand, among construction companies outside the top 10 in construction capability evaluation, only Ssangyong Construction achieved over 1 trillion KRW in orders last year, indicating weak order performance in urban maintenance projects by mid-sized construction companies. This is due to consumers’ growing preference for large apartment brands.

A representative from a mid-sized construction company said, “A few years ago, the maintenance project market was mainly formed by small and medium-sized construction companies, but after the financial crisis, as the overseas construction market became difficult, large construction companies began to enter. Since consumers prefer large construction company brands, small and medium-sized companies don’t even dare to compete in bidding.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.