S. Korean Shipbuilder Shares Soar on $19B Deal with QP

Shares in South Korean shipbuilders rallied more than 20% on Tuesday following $19 billion worth of deals to build vessels for Qatar Petroleum (QP).

QP said on Monday it has signed agreements with South Korea's "Big 3" shipyards to secure more than 100 ships costing over 70 billion Qatari riyals ($18.65 billion), describing the deals as "the largest LNG shipbuilding in history."

The agreements signed with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd, Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co Ltd and Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd will occupy much of the three companies' liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship construction capacity through 2027.

QP did not announce breakdown orders for each company. Samsung Heavy said it expects to sign deals starting this year through 2024.

Shares of Samsung Heavy on Tuesday surged as much as 27.5% to their highest intraday level since late February, while those of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co Ltd soared as high as 28.2% and 20%, respectively as of 0141 GMT.

The benchmark KOSPI market was trading up 0.7%.

($1 = 3.7535 riyals) 

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang; Additional reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; Editing by Christopher Cushing)