Ulsan City Sees Gradual Recovery in Local Construction Industry... Survey on Current Status of Regional Construction Market

Three-Pronged Policy of Fairness, Participation, and Support Proves Effective

The local construction industry has continued its recovery despite complex economic challenges, contributing to the stabilization of the local economy.

According to a survey on the current status of the local construction industry conducted by Ulsan City from May 12 to 23, 2025, as part of efforts to devise measures to revitalize the local construction market, a gradual recovery trend was confirmed.

The survey was conducted based on data from the National Statistical Portal (KOSIS) and performance reports from the Ulsan branch of the Construction Association of Korea.

The results showed that as of March 2025, construction orders in the Ulsan region amounted to 601.2 billion won, an increase of 20.7% (about 103 billion won) compared to 498.3 billion won in the same month of the previous year.

In particular, in 2024, compared to 2023, the contract (progress payment) amount in the general construction sector for private projects increased by 127 billion won to 1.3746 trillion won (up 10.18%), and for public projects, it increased by 86.9 billion won to 489.3 billion won (up 21.6%), showing double-digit growth in both sectors.

On the other hand, in the specialized construction sector, the amount decreased by 44.3 billion won to 829.5 billion won (down 5.07%) compared to the previous year, while public projects increased by 21.7 billion won to 377.4 billion won (up 6.10%). On average, this represents a slight decrease of 2.08% compared to the previous year, indicating stagnation in some processes.

By construction type, there was a balanced increase: civil engineering grew by 31.82% (83.4 billion won), industrial facilities by 64.4% (57 billion won), and architecture by 5.51% (71.2 billion won), all showing a clear recovery trend overall.

In the specialized construction sector, five categories including landscaping/planting and facilities (up 5.69%) and interior construction (up 8.40%) showed growth. However, six categories, including steel structures (down 26.83%) and underwater/dredging (down 10.97%), saw declines, indicating areas that require improvement.

Despite the nationwide stagnation in the construction industry, the increase in orders in Ulsan appears to be positively influenced by increased demand for infrastructure, driven by the recovery of heavy industries such as shipbuilding and automobiles.

Additionally, Ulsan City's ongoing implementation of 20 detailed action tasks across four areas, focused on the construction industry?one of the region's core sectors?has played an important role in maintaining stability in the local construction industry by expanding job creation and the economic ripple effect.

In particular, efforts to enhance the credibility and competitiveness of the local construction industry include 117 on-site sales activities involving both the public and private sectors, 33 business agreements with construction companies, the operation of a "Business Day" on the 7th of every month, and support for subcontract payment guarantee fees totaling 50 million won.

Furthermore, to increase the local subcontract participation rate, which had remained in the 20% range, Ulsan City set targets of 30% for 2023 and 33% for 2024, and has been systematically preparing to achieve them.

As a result, the number of employees in the construction sector increased by 4,081, from 5,408 in 2023 to 9,489 in 2024.

In addition, out of the total subcontract amount of 4.5769 trillion won for 121 projects in the region, 1.5139 trillion won was allocated to local companies, achieving a local subcontract rate of 33.08%.

A city official stated, "We plan to manage our action tasks even more systematically for the remainder of the year to achieve our goal of a 35% local subcontract rate," adding, "We will spare no administrative support to ensure that the local construction industry remains a strong foundation for the regional economy."

Ulsan City has set a target local subcontract participation rate of 35% for this year. From June 11 to 13, the city plans to visit the headquarters of major construction companies in Seoul to discuss ways to expand the participation of local firms. In the second half of the year, the city will also establish detailed plans for new policies, such as encouraging preferential negotiation rights for local companies, to further support the revitalization of the local construction industry.

Ulsan City Hall.

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