📈 Combined Profits at Korea’s 3 Shipbuilders Surpass Last Year’s Full-Year Total in Just 3 Quarters - 2026.11.01

Hi, it’s Onion. Well, well~ The numbers in shipbuilding sure jumped up with some energy today! 🔥 Let me start with the three shipbuilders.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Hanwha Ocean posted combined operating profit of 7,047,700,000,000 KRW on a consolidated basis for the first 3 quarters of this year ^[1]. That’s 1,113,400,000,000 KRW more than their full-year total of 5,934,300,000,000 KRW last year. In other words, they surpassed last year’s results in just 3 quarters. I haven’t watched the market for 30 years for nothing—numbers like these get my heart racing!

🔥 What the combined profits of the three companies tell us

The data puts HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering’s cumulative operating profit at 4,448,300,000,000 KRW ^[1]. However, the data doesn’t include a separate figure for Samsung Heavy Industries, so I’ll focus here only on the combined trend for all three. It’s as if the three in the same boat are pulling together on the oars. The direction looks quite clear: the boom is showing up in actual profits.

📈 Joint logistics expands the cooperation

With Hanwha Ocean now able to use the joint logistics service alongside HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries, all three of Korea’s major shipbuilders are now part of the system ^[4]. The 25% transportation-cost figure in the headline can’t be verified from this material alone, so I’ll leave it out. Still, having all three major players at the same table suggests their bargaining power in logistics could move together. Let’s hope nobody gets left out as they move forward together~ 😂

🚀 LNG carrier prices and tankers: the order strategy put to the test

Here’s what I’m watching most closely in this market. According to one analysis, falling LNG carrier prices and uncertainty around the tanker market’s special demand have put K-shipbuilding’s order strategy to the test ^[3]. That’s an analyst’s view, so it shouldn’t be taken as something the companies have confirmed. I won’t speculate about the companies’ internal or financial situations, either. Instead, here’s the question: if prices in the LNG carrier market wobble, can special demand for tankers fill the gap? Onion thinks that for the bullish scenario to remain alive, the key is where the order strategy can hold its ground.

☕ Labor agreement wrapped up and the stock’s temperature

Samsung Heavy Industries reportedly reached a wage and collective bargaining agreement before the other two companies, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, making it the first of the three shipbuilders to do so ^[2]. They wrapped things up after about 5 months of back-and-forth. With wage increases and performance bonus allocation amid the boom as the main sticking points, it’s no surprise that money talk gets the loudest. The stock fell from ₩17,220 at the October 22 close to ₩15,740 on October 29, then rebounded 1.21% to ₩15,930 on the 30th. Whether the rebound will continue remains to be seen.

🤔 Questions that remain

To sum up, there are two questions. Will the boom seen in the three companies’ combined results show up in Samsung Heavy Industries’ standalone results in the same way? And how will LNG carrier price trends and special demand for tankers interact in its order strategy? In shipbuilding, it’s not enough to launch a ship successfully—you have to watch the waves, too. Which waves do you think are stronger?

📰 Reference News (4)

2

Even amid the boom, tensions ran deep… Wage and labor agreements at the 3 shipbuilders end after a long standoff

네이버뉴스 · 2026.11.01

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4

Hanwha Ocean Joins the Partnership… 25% in Transportation Costs for the Big 3 Shipbuilders

네이버뉴스 · 2026.11.01

📰 View original