HD Hyundai established the China Engine Technology Service Department in November last year for its construction machinery subsidiary, HD Hyundai Construction Equipment, in China. This separate organization was created to handle local services, such as on-site testing, as exports of marine engines from the manufacturing subsidiary to China significantly increased. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which manufactures medium and large marine engines, plans to export 80 large engines and 250 of its self-developed medium-sized "Himsen" engines to China this year. This means that about 25% of last year's annual production volume is headed to China.
A spokesperson for HD Hyundai Heavy Industries noted that "the export volume of large engines exceeding 20,000 kilowatts (kW) and environmentally friendly dual-fuel engines, which Korean corporations possess a technological advantage in, has surged in recent years."
As China dominates global shipbuilding orders, its imports of Korean marine engines are also increasing. According to statistics from the Korea International Trade Association, the import amount of Korean marine engines by China reached $595 million (approximately 876 billion won) in the first three quarters of last year, surpassing the total import amount for all of 2023 ($581 million) in just three quarters. The proportion of Korean products accounted for 70% of the total import amount.
As China increases orders and construction of ships using environmentally friendly fuels such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and methanol, Korean companies have been purchasing a large number of environmentally friendly fuel engines in which they hold a technological advantage. The more ships China builds, the more Korean marine engines are sold. While China is closely following South Korea in the shipbuilding sector, many expect that the Korean shipbuilding industry will maintain its advantage in marine engines for some time.
Hanwha Engine reported that sales of marine engines in the third quarter of last year accounted for 86% of its total sales, amounting to 254.5 billion won, with nearly half of that coming from China. Analyst Choi Kwang-sik from Daol Investment & Securities said, "As Chinese shipbuilders expand their production capacity and orders for LNG dual-fuel container ships increase, the orders for engines from Korean corporations are also expected to rise."