HHI Shifting to Global Integrated Heavy Industries Co.

Makes aggressive inroads into photovoltaic and wind power areas

Hyundai Avancis, a 50-50 joint venture between Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (HHI) and Avancis of Germany, a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, launched a project to build the nation's largest GIGS thin-film photovoltaic module plant in Ochang, Chungcheongbuk-do, last April.
In the same month, HHI became the first Korean company to win a contract to supply a 16MW power generator to Europe, the birthplace of wind power.
On July 2, HHI announced a plan to build a new robot plant in the Ulsan headquarters and become the world's third-biggest robot maker. The plan calls for doubling its annual robot production capacity to 4,000 units.
HHI is striving to be reborn as a global integrated manufacturer for heavy industries, surpassing its current status as the world's No. 1 shipbuilder. HHI, now a maker of shipbuilding and marine/construction equipment, has made inroads into such areas as photovoltaic power, wind power and robot industries that have the potential to become growth engines in the future. HHI has made the nation's biggest investments in the photovoltaic power and robot sectors.
HHI chalked up sales of 22.4 trillion won last year, three times as much as the 7.4 trillion won in 2002 when the company split off from the Hyundai Business Group.
The company has come from strength to strength in terms of volume. HHI has seen its shipbuilding sector surge to 7.84 trillion won in sales in 2010, a 50 percent jump from the 5.32 trillion won in 2005, but the sector's portion of the company's combined sales declined from 51.4 percent in 2005 to 35 percent. During the same period, HHI has seen the non-shipbuilding areas soaring 14.55 trillion won, a nearly three-fold jump from 5 trillion won. To the contrary, the non-shipbuilding sector's percentage of its total sales jumped from 49 percent to 65 percent.
Early this year, HHI separated the photovoltaic power and wind power business areas from the electro/electric systems division and made it the company's seventh independent division. The seven divisions also include shipbuilding, offshore & engineering, industrial plant & engineering, engine & machinery and construction equipment.
HHI's photovoltaic power plant in Eumseong, Chungcheongbuk-do, has been expanding with the current annual production capacity of 600MW of modules. HHI's biggest thin-film photovoltaic power plant in Korea is under construction in Ochang. HHI is building a wind power generation equipment plant with an annual production capacity of 600 MW in Weihai, Shandong, China, and is to be inaugurated within this year.
KEEP GROWING IN CONVENTIONAL BUSINESS AREAS ― HHI delivered its 1,700th ship last January, a first in the global shipbuilding industry. The shipbuilding division has won orders to build nine valued-added drill ships worth a combined $5 billion so far this year.
Last September, HHI's engine & machinery division surpassed the 100 million horsepower mark in cumulative large-sized ship engine production. The Engine & Machinery Division of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. has developed its own specially designed HiMSEN engines incorporating its valuable experience and technical know-how acquired in manufacturing diesel engines for over two decades. The division has already produced 5,000 HiMSEN engines. nw

HHI is aggressively expanding its business portfolios to the new and renewable energy field.

Photo on Courtesy of HHI