S. Korean builders' H1 domestic orders fall 1.4 pct

SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- Domestic orders won by South Korean construction companies sank 1.4 percent in the first half of the year from a year earlier due to sluggish demand in the public sector, a report said Tuesday.
According to the report by the Construction Association of Korea (CAK), South Korea's construction companies clinched a combined 49.9 trillion won (US$45.7 billion) worth of new orders in the January-June period.
Orders from the private sector rose 15.7 percent on-year to 35.5 trillion won, while those from the public sector plunged 27.6 percent to 14.5 trillion won.
The drop in the public sector is attributable to a decrease in large-scale national projects and public housing construction, the report said.
However, brisk demand for industrial facilities and non-residential buildings boosted the private sector's overall orders, it said.
"We see that demand from the public sector is expected to gradually recover in the second half as the government plans to start work on the construction of new offices of public agencies," said the CAK.
But it predicted that it would be hard for the private sector to revive itself in the short term due to a prolonged slump in the local property market and the ongoing debt crisis in Europe and the U.S.
Local builders won 12.9 trillion won worth of new orders in June alone, up 9.9 percent from the same month last year, the association said.
brk@yna.co.kr