E&Corporation Expands 'Blue Gold' Water Treatment Industry by Entering Desalination Market through Subsidiary

Hansung Cleantec Enters Global Desalination Market Growing 15% Annually
Aims to Become No.1 Industrial Water Treatment Company by Acquiring Related Water Treatment Firms

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] E&C Corporation, aiming to become a comprehensive environmental company, has successfully entered the seawater desalination market through Hanseong Cleantec.

Hanseong Cleantec is an EPC company specializing in ultrapure water treatment facilities. Recently, it secured a seawater desalination plant contract worth $7.8 million (approximately 8.8 billion KRW) from HK (Hutama Karya), Indonesia's largest state-owned enterprise.

Due to worsening water shortages and water pollution caused by climate change and population changes, the water treatment market is emerging as the Blue Gold industry. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the global seawater desalination market size reached $15.2 billion (approximately 18 trillion KRW) in 2018, and the market is expected to grow by 15% annually going forward.

Hanseong Cleantec plans to expand its desalination business into the ASEAN region. Water resource infrastructure projects, including desalination facilities, are rapidly growing, and collaboration requests are continuing in the region.

Along with expanding overseas markets, the company also plans to participate in domestic desalination projects scheduled for the second half of the year. It is expected that performance will improve significantly due to diversification and expansion of new businesses.

Lee Jungseop, CEO of Hanseong Cleantec, stated, "We will enter various new fields by utilizing the water treatment technologies the company possesses, not only in the desalination business." He added, "Based on the core EPC business, we are preparing to enter the O&M business that directly operates water treatment facilities, as well as design and construction, through a bolt-on strategy in the water treatment sector."

E&C Corporation plans to grow into the number one company in the industrial water treatment sector this year by continuously expanding related companies, including acquiring Inbaotek Dangjin plant, which holds comprehensive permits for liquid waste treatment, as well as Hanseong Cleantec.

Yuha Securities forecasted that E&C Corporation will expand not only in water treatment but also into solid waste business and resource-circulating energy business, expecting that wastewater treatment, waste landfill and incineration, and renewable energy businesses will organically generate synergy effects.