Orders won by South Korean builders surpassed US$50 billion for the third consecutive year in 2012, up 13 percent from a year earlier, said statistics available at the association.
Orders from Middle East countries, the largest market for South Korean builders, took the lion's share of $30.5 billion in the first 11 months of 2012. The figure accounted for 59.1 percent the total orders amounting to $51.6 billion.
Orders from South American nations shyrocketed 253 percent on-year to 5.5 billion, whereas those from Africa reached $1.2 billion, up 28 percent.
Orders from Asia, the second largest market for South Korean builders, decreased 5 percent to $13.5 billion from a year ago.
Industry sources said it remains to be seen whether South Korea, amid global economic slowdown, will achieve its overseas sales target of 70 billion in 2012.
South Korean builders won orders worth $71.5 billion and $59.1 billion in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com