Overseas orders for South Korea’s industrial plants shot up 22.7 percent in the first nine months of the year from a year earlier, helped by a soar in overseas plant orders in the third quarter, the trade ministry said Wednesday.

Overseas orders for the country’s industrial plants came to $46.2 billion in the January-September period, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Due to the global economic slump, overseas orders for the industrial plants eked out a 0.7 percent rise in the first quarter, followed by a 3.7 percent fall in the second quarter.

However, the third quarter saw the country’s overseas plant orders more than double compared with a year ago thanks to large-scale orders like ones for a drill ship worth $1.1 billion of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.

In Asia, orders for the industrial plants reached $17.3 in the three quarters, up 46.5 percent from a year ago, while they were up 56.4 percent to $4.2 billion in Africa.

By sector, orders for power and freshwater plants led the growth in the nine months, reaching $12.1 billion, up 77.9 percent a year ago.

However, the petrochemical sector saw overseas orders fall 32.4 percent to $340 million, the ministry said. (Yonhap News)