[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] HJ Heavy Industries (formerly Hanjin Heavy Industries), which resumed its merchant ship business last year, is expected to ease its workload as it has officially started operating a satellite factory to produce ship blocks.
On the 30th, HJ Heavy Industries held an opening ceremony for its satellite factory, the Geoje Plant, which manufactures ship blocks.
The company succeeded in re-entering the merchant ship market, where orders had been halted since 2016, by securing orders for four container ships last year. This year, it secured an additional four orders, achieving a total contract value of approximately 660 billion KRW.
However, as orders increased, the main business site, Yeongdo Shipyard, became overloaded.
A large yard is needed to produce and store blocks, which are components of ships, but the 80,000㎡ Yeongdo Shipyard site is already occupied not only by warships and special-purpose vessels under construction but also by blocks required for merchant shipbuilding, resulting in insufficient processing space.
The Busan Dadaepo Plant and Incheon Yuldo Plant, which HJ Heavy Industries had previously operated as satellite factories, were sold off in 2017 following the creditors' financial restructuring plan and no longer exist.
Therefore, HJ Heavy Industries searched for satellite factory sites centered around Busan. However, due to the characteristics of the Busan area, most candidate sites were coastal, shipping and port areas, or tourist spots, making it difficult to find a suitable location.
After several months of detailed review, the company secured the Geoje Plant in the Obi-ri General Industrial Complex, Yeoncho-myeon, Geoje City, Gyeongnam Province, where other block manufacturing plants and shipbuilding equipment companies are scattered.
The site is adjacent to the Hannae Industrial Complex, Geoje Hannae Shipbuilding Specialized Agro-Industrial Complex, and Mosa General Industrial Complex, and is close to large shipyards and Geoje city, offering advantages in material supply and workforce acquisition.
In particular, since the plant had previously produced and supplied ship blocks, it was possible to secure essential facilities for ship block production?such as assembly plants, finishing plants, auxiliary facilities, cranes, and power substation equipment?at minimal cost.
An HJ Heavy Industries official said, “Since resuming merchant ship orders last year, the need for a satellite factory to stably supply production volume has been steadily raised. The Geoje Plant will serve as a catalyst for expanding shipbuilding sales and is expected to play a role in the company’s normalization and leap forward in the future.”
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