Sejin Heavy Industries

Founded in 1999, Sejin Heavy Industries is a specialized shipbuilding equipment maker with two business segments: shipbuilding and plant. In the shipbuilding segment, the company mainly produces Deck Houses, the crew living quarters on large vessels, and independent cargo tanks mounted on LPG and LNG carriers.

Sejin is known as the world's largest Deck House manufacturer, producing 100 to 130 units annually. It is also the only domestic maker of independent gas tanks and holds the top global market share in that category.

Its main customers are the three major Korean shipbuilders, HD Hyundai (HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Mipo), Hanwha Ocean, and Samsung Heavy Industries, to which it supplies massive tank and structure modules for LPG and LNG carriers.

Subsidiaries include Ilsung, which makes sewage treatment plants, Dongbang Sunki, which makes pipe spools, and Sejin Vietnam, which produces Deck Houses and other upper structures in Vietnam.

The plant segment, which builds offshore and onshore refinery modules, has not booked any new orders since revenue was last recognized in 2022.

The product mix is expanding from LPG tanks toward LNG dual-fuel fuel tanks, LNG bunkering tanks, and liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carrier tanks, with high entry barriers for oversized structures and long-standing relationships with the big three shipbuilders forming the core of its competitive position.

Consolidated revenue in 2025 came to KRW 402.69 billion, a clear increase from KRW 352.38 billion in 2024. Operating profit reached KRW 73.39 billion, more than double the KRW 35.98 billion recorded in 2024, and the operating margin rose steadily to 18.2% from 10.2% in 2024, 8.7% in 2023, and 6.1% in 2022.

Owner net income surged to KRW 50.68 billion from KRW 11.35 billion in 2024, consistent with the roughly 346.5% net income growth figure compiled by outside data providers.

On a quarterly basis, revenue of KRW 98.17 billion and operating profit of KRW 8.76 billion (8.9% margin) in the second quarter of 2025 improved to revenue of KRW 90.37 billion and operating profit of KRW 12.14 billion (13.4% margin) in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, revenue rose to KRW 115.65 billion with operating profit of KRW 34.68 billion, pushing the operating margin to 30.0%, a level reported to have exceeded market expectations.

In the first quarter of 2026, revenue was KRW 87.24 billion with operating profit of KRW 13.64 billion (15.6% margin), a period in which owner net income of KRW 14.10 billion actually exceeded operating profit.

The second quarter of 2026 saw revenue of KRW 93.50 billion, operating profit of KRW 20.37 billion (21.8% margin), and owner net income of KRW 16.54 billion, extending the run of double-digit operating margins.

Over the most recent four quarters (Q3 2025 through Q2 2026), cumulative owner net income totaled KRW 64.05 billion, indicating the earnings improvement trend has continued into the most recent reporting periods.

Korea's three major shipbuilders have reportedly built up roughly three years' worth of order backlogs in recent years, driven largely by gas carriers and eco-friendly vessels.

Stricter International Maritime Organization (IMO) environmental regulations and carbon-neutral targets are expected to sustain demand for replacing aging vessels and ordering green ships, which in turn feeds order volumes for shipbuilding equipment makers.

The carbon capture and storage (CCS) market is projected to grow more than 30% annually, with global carbon capture volumes reaching 7.6 billion tons by 2050, a trend expected to lift demand for LCO2 carriers used to transport captured carbon to more than 550 vessels.

Across the shipbuilding equipment industry, outsourcing of production to Vietnam, the Philippines, India and other emerging markets is accelerating to secure cost competitiveness, with the HD Hyundai group itself expanding overseas production bases into Vietnam, the Philippines and India.

Within this backdrop, Sejin is regarded as the sole domestic supplier delivering oversized equipment to all three major Korean shipbuilders, underpinned by its position as the world's largest Deck House maker and the only domestic independent gas tank producer.

Still, with the plant segment's order drought continuing, the company's earnings remain relatively sensitive to the shipbuilding order cycle.

In December 2025, Sejin signed a site contract for the Ninh Thuy industrial park in Khanh Hoa, Vietnam, stating a goal of expanding Vietnamese production capacity to more than three times its prior level.

In July 2026, the company held a groundbreaking ceremony for the 'Sejin Global Factory' at the same site, with total investment reported at up to VND 1 trillion (roughly KRW 56 billion), covering more than 11 hectares with a planned annual capacity of 42,000 tons of ship parts, which upon completion would represent more than a sixfold increase over the existing Vietnam capacity.

The company said phase one will be completed and enter commercial operation first, followed by phase two, with the combined facility supplying Deck Houses and engine casings to shipyards worldwide.

Subsidiary Sejin Vietnam reportedly posted first-quarter 2026 revenue of KRW 5.1 billion, up 15.5% year on year, and turned profitable with net income of KRW 200 million.

In April 2026, HD Hyundai and the Indian government signed a shipbuilding cooperation memorandum that included support for equipment makers such as block and engine suppliers to enter the local market, and brokerage analysts noted this could benefit subsidiary Dongbang Sunki, which makes piping for tankers to be built mainly in Vietnam and the Philippines, as well as Sejin's Deck House and independent LPG tank business given rising demand for containers, tankers, and LPG carriers in India.

On target prices, Shinhan Investment initiated coverage on March 30, 2026 with a target of KRW 20,200, Shinyoung Securities raised its target from KRW 28,000 to KRW 34,000 on April 9, 2026 citing overseas site expansion and product portfolio diversification, and IBK Investment & Securities said on May 26, 2026 that it was maintaining its target price of KRW 21,000, reflecting expected benefits from the India shipbuilding cooperation memorandum.