Overseas orders for industrial plants won by South Korean builders spiked more than 40 percent on-year in the first half of 2023 on brisk demand from the Middle East and Africa, data showed Thursday.

Local builders clinched $13.05 billion worth of plant orders from abroad in the January-June period, up 40.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the commerce ministry data.

The first-half jump came as orders from Middle Eastern and African countries shot up from a year earlier.

Plant orders from the Middle East came to $7.02 billion in the six-month period, up a whopping 552.3 percent from the same period last year.

Those from Africa also skyrocketed 331.1 percent on-year to an eight-year high of $1.7 billion in the first half.

The ministry said the surge in orders from the Mideast is "a clear sign of a new Middle Eastern boom" for the construction industry, following South Korea's summit with the United Arab Emirates in January and other positive factors.

In contrast, plant orders from Asian countries plunged 48 percent on-year to $2.7 billion, with those from Europe and the Americas sinking 46.5 percent and 27.5 percent, respectively.

The data showed orders for petrochemical plants soaring nearly 120 percent on-year to $7.4 billion in the first half, taking up the largest portion of the total. (Yonhap)