Expectations for the 'Make America Shipbuilding Great Again (MASGA)' project to enhance Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation have led to early gains on the 29th for the 'Big 3' companies like HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries, along with equipment manufacturers.
Shares of Inhwa Precision, which manufactures ship engine parts, were traded for 56,800 won in the KOSDAQ market at 9:41 a.m. that day. The price rose 14.75% (7,300 won) compared to the previous day. At the same time, Hanwha Engine, Sejin Heavy Industries, STX Engine, SK oceanplant, and Oriental Precision & Engineering also showed strength in their stock prices.
Earlier at the Korea-U.S. summit, President Donald Trump said, 'We will purchase ships from Korea' and 'We will have ships built directly in the U.S.'
In response, there are projections that Korea-U.S. shipbuilding cooperation will gain momentum. Particularly, given the current collapse of the local shipbuilding ecosystem, there are also expectations that production will be done in 'blocks' domestically and then assembled locally.
Kim Yong-min, a researcher at Yuanta Securities Korea, said, 'In order to expand shipbuilding capabilities in the U.S. without the direct movement of domestic shipbuilding laborers, the method of exporting after block production is expected to be virtually the only solution.'