Daewoo Mangalia has not signed a contract since 2008, but expects 442m-euro turnover

Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industry (DMHI), the biggest shipbuilder in Romania, has budgeted a 600 million-dollar (442 million-euro) turnover for this year, up 13.2% against last year, although the shipyard has not sealed a shipbuilding contract since the end of 2008. However, the high number of orders accumulated before the crisis will enable the company to work at capacity until mid next year.

“In 2009 the number of contracts sealed internationally amounted to 15% of the previous year and they were mainly sealed in Asia (Korea, China, and Japan). As for Daewoo Mangalia, we have not signed any new contracts, both because of market conditions, and because of the price, which, for big commercial ships, fell by 35-40% last year,” says Dan Marin, marketing manager of Daewoo Mangalia.

Company representatives say even if they had orders, the low price of ships would stop them from conducting a profitable business, with production costs currently exceeding the price of a ship.

Last year, Daewoo Mangalia saw its turnover up by about 26%, to around 530 million dollars (381.4 million euros), but continued to record losses, which in 2008 amounted to 430.3 million RON (117.2 million euros).