Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industries shipyard, which is owned by the South Korean group, one of the top shipbuilders in the world, is negotiating two contracts with German ship owners with a total value of around 800 million dollars (over 615 million euros), sources close to the talks told Ziarul Financiar.
The value of the two orders will be a record high for the Romanian shipyard industry, which is now booming due to the increasing demand for ships on the global market.
The contracts with the German companies Hamburg S'd and Gebab are expected to be signed in late February, sources say.
The negotiations with Hamburg S'd are for the construction of five container carriers with a total value of 500-550 million dollars (384-423 million euros). The ships are to be delivered by 2008-2009.
Given the size of the contract, Daewoo Mangalia has already contacted several banks for the financing of the contract.
The South Korean builder is also close to signing a new contract with Gebab worth 250-260 million dollars (200 million euros) for the construction of four other container ships.
Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industries shipyard expects to make deals worth 500 million dollars by 2009, four times more than in 2004.
The shipyard's preliminary results show a turnover of 128 million dollars (150 million euros) and a reduced profit rate of around 3.5%. This year they expect to turn over 215 million dollars.
Daewoo Mangalia shipyard is currently working on a 200m-dollar contract signed last year with Gebab for the construction and delivery of four container ships.
The contract also includes a financing and guarantee structure in which Gebab Konzeptions und Treuhandgesellschaft have pledged an advance payment of 80% of the cost for each ship, with the remaining amount to be met by the builder at this stage.
The ships will have a capacity of 4,550 TEU (a specific unit of volume equivalent to a 20 foot container). They will be delivered to the beneficiary by 2007.
The main financial intermediary is the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR), which will issue letters of guarantee for three of the four ships and secure the capital flow required by the shipyard. The American bank Citibank will issue the letter of guarantee for the fourth ship, company officials say.
BCR is the main financing body in the high growth sector of shipbuilding. adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro ; catalin.ciocan@zf.ro
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