[THE INVESTOR] The Korean construction and shipbuilding industries have seen the worst record of overseas orders in the first half of this year amid the sluggish economy and aftermath of the Brexit vote.

According to the International Contractors Association of Korea, the total value of overseas orders for local major construction companies was 12.6 trillion won ($11 billion), dropping by 38.7 percent on-year. This is one fifth of their initial goal of 62 trillion won for this year.

Samsung C&T recorded the highest overseas order value of 3.3 trillion won, which is less than half of the initial goal of 9 trillion won. Its orders mainly focused on the Asian market such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Hyundai Engineering was second with 2.1 trillion won, dropping by 3.7 trillion won on-year.

Other construction companies also saw at least 1 trillion won of decline in orders this year.

The value of orders obtained in the Middle East market for the first half of this year plummeted to $4.7 billion, down by 32 percent on-year, due mainly to the downfall of oil prices, sources said.

Shipbuilders are also struggling with the decline in obtaining overseas contracts, as more than 90 percent of their sales depend on such orders.

The total value of overseas orders for the three major shipbuilders -- Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries -- was $1.9 billion in the first half of this year. This is only 4 percent of the total orders obtained in 2013 when marine plant projects flooded in from abroad.

As for Samsung Heavy Industries, it has made no deals for the building of marine plants or merchant ships since October last year when a Malaysian company ordered for four oil tankers. This is the first time in seven years that the company has made no deals for such a long period.

The company is anticipating that performance will likely improve in the second half of this year as a number of deals are currently under discussion, sources said.

By Lee Hyun-jeong ()