🥕 Samsung Heavy Industries: Between a 10 Trillion Investment and Supplier Complaints - 2026.10.22

Hi, it’s Carrot! 🥕 Today brought a basketful of good news and headaches: a 10 trillion investment in Geoje, LNG carrier profit margins, and even a planned supplier complaint.

Shall we start with the good numbers? 📊

NewsToday reported that Samsung Heavy Industries has emerged from the red and posted a 10% profit margin, with its LNG carrier business behind the improvement ^[2]. This is the first installment in a series, so it looks like we’ll hear more about this. Seoul Economic TV reported a forecast that operating profit will increase by 47% ^[5]. But that’s a third-party forecast, not something the company has confirmed. So let’s take it simply as “someone sees it this way.”

There’s also big news from Geoje. Samsung Heavy Industries signed an investment agreement to put 10,000,000,000,000 KRW into its Geoje site and build a production base for advanced, high-value-added ships and offshore infrastructure. Geoje City announced this at an investment-promotion briefing in Seoul on the 20th ^[1]. The figure of 10 trillion is so huge that I read it twice. Wow, that’s a massive scale.

But things are getting noisy with suppliers again

According to Asia Times’ headline, 27 suppliers plan to file a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission, with the picture being that the prime contractor is booming while subcontractors are struggling with debt ^[4]. That’s based on the headline, so the details are still beyond what we can confirm. That’s why I’ve deliberately left out the amount. The issue boils down to the gap between the prime contractor and subcontractors.

There’s also news about wage negotiations. Samsung Heavy Industries was the first among the major shipbuilders to reach a wage deal, but the agreement is said to be fueling tensions with other shipbuilders such as Hanwha Ocean and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries ^[3]. When one company signs first, you know the shipyards next door start looking at things differently. This is genuinely an interesting point.

Here’s what it looks like on the chart ✨

Looking at the recent trend, the stock started at a closing price of ₩19,090 on October 14, fell to ₩17,220 on the 20th, then rebounded to ₩17,620 on the 21st. The closing price on the 22nd was ₩17,330, with a change of -1.98%. The low on the 22nd was ₩17,200, so the recent low of ₩17,150 is catching my eye as a potential lower end of the range. I’m watching the area around the previous trading day’s rebound as the upper end. Those two lines are my watch zone.

Carrot thinks it’s best not to jump to conclusions about the direction here until more data comes in. My rules are always the same: no going all in, no selling everything, and act only if support breaks. For a chart watcher, this is practically a prayer 😂

Here are the remaining variables 🎯

There are three key questions: whether the 10 trillion investment and 47% forecast will translate into actual results, what kind of picture the planned supplier complaint will paint of the structure between prime contractors and subcontractors, and whether the wage deal will lead to broader industry tensions. If even one of these is confirmed, let’s talk about it again then. That’s a wrap on today’s super-fun chart session! 🥕

📰 Reference News (4)

3

Samsung Heavy Industries’ Choi Sung-an, a Thorn in the Shipbuilding Industry’s Side… “Just Looking Out for Yourself”

네이버뉴스 · 2026.10.22

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📺 Reference Videos (1)

5

YouTube

Samsung Heavy Industries Operating Profit Forecast to Rise 47%… Benefits of High-Priced Orders Gather Momentum

▶서울경제TV·2026.10.21