SEOUL—Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a unit of the world’s largest shipyard, plans to invest about 190 billion won ($181 million) to build a third ship-component factory in South Korea to meet demand for new vessels.

An initial agreement for the plant for blocks used in vessel hulls was signed with the city government of Ulsan, Hyundai Mipo said in a regulatory filing. The company operates two parts plants in the cities of Ulsan and Daebul in South Korea.

Yards in South Korea, the world’s largest shipbuilding nation, are expanding capacity and using new methods to build vessels as order backlogs stretch into 2012. They won almost half of the record $191.3 billion shipping lines spent on new orders last year.

Hyundai Mipo has received $2.5 billion of orders this year, achieving 42 percent of its annual target of about $6 billion. It has a backlog of $13 billion.

Hyundai Mipo stock has fallen 17 percent this year, underperforming a 5-percent decline in South Korea’s Kospi index. (Bloomberg)

First Metro Investment releases share of PPA float

AFTER months of negotiations, First Metro Investment Corp. released its share of the P2-billion debt paper floated by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) last year.

MUMBAI—India’s Dhamra Port, being built by Tata Steel Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro Ltd., should be completed in April 2010, two years behind schedule, a port executive said.

SEOUL—STX Shipbuilding Co., owner of Europe’s largest shipyard, plans to raise capacity at its South Korean yards by 20 percent this year after adding a second floating dock to meet demand for new vessels.

SEOUL—Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co., a unit of the world’s largest shipyard, plans to invest about 190 billion won ($181 million) to build a third ship-component factory in South Korea to meet demand for new vessels.