ata released in late September by the U.S. Dept. of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that the Republic of Korea, along with Taiwan, boasted the biggest year-over-year increase in manufacturing labor productivity in 2007, at 8.7 percent. They were followed by Germany, at 5 percent, and the United States, at 4.1 percent, to lead the 16 nations examined. The rise followed increases of 10.1 percent the previous year, and 7.6 percent over the previous eight-year period.
      Getting a piece of that action may be part of the motivation behind facility projects in the country from such companies as flat-glass maker Asahi Glass of Japan and chemical fabric maker Toray Industries in Gumi, in northern Kyungsang Province; Siemens' US$21-million medical equipment and research facility investment in Pohang; or resin and plastics expansions in Ulsan by DuPont and Japanese firm Nifco. Other projects popped up this past summer from Boeing (R&D), Linde Group and Bosch.
      But the real window into Korean manufacturing is its shipyards, which in the first half of 2008 won fully half of the entire world's shipbuilding orders, totaling 12.4 million compensated gross tons.       Last year's export value for Korean ships was US$27.68 billion. The sector's leading companies are affiliated with the country's legacy conglomerates: Hyundai and Samsung, among others.
      They're not just building the ships. They're building the places to build the ships. Among recent investments has been a $1-billion shipyard from Daehan/Daeju Group in Haenam, South Jeolla Province; a new shipyard on a 35,088-acre (14,200-hectare) site in Mokpo, in that same province, from C&Shipping (CNS); and a $550-million investment from SLS Shipbuilding in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, among others. The Daehan project aims to be nothing less than the world's largest shipyard, even as other mammoth projects are under way elsewhere in Korea, China and the Philippines. It launched its first ship in April.
      Steel giant POSCO was aiming to be the next Korean corporate giant to dip a foot into shipbuilding, as it initiated, with energy and retail partner GS, a purchase offer for a controlling stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, the world's third-largest shipbuilder, in August. Initially part of a consortium that included Hyundai and Hanwha, POSCO saw GS drop from its joint offer, then in mid-October saw its solo offer rejected by Daewoo Shipbuilding's main creditor, Korea Development Bank, which said the bid violated the fairness and transparency of the process. KDB said it would decide between Hanwha and Hyundai's offers by late October.
      But even as the global financial crisis and freight costs force shippers to cut back on their ship orders, the Korean shipbuilding industry and its feeder industries expect to stay on an even keel. Up to now, the country's shipbuilders have relied on imported steel plates for roughly half of their annual consumption of 13.3 million metric tons. Hyundai Steel is investing $4.8 billion in its first blast furnace. And though its Daewoo bid was turned away, POSCO is investing massively in its own steel capacity expansions, even as the market has softened over the past few months.       In June, POSCO announced it would invest approximately $1.4 billion in a new steelmaking plant at its signature Pohang Steelworks, and $1.8 billion in a new steel plate plant at its Gwangyang Steelworks. Both plants are projected to be complete by summer 2010.
      The Pohang expansion will include new continuous caster capacity for wire rod and for steel slabs. The Gwangyang project, pursued in order to supply shipbuilders and other heavy industries, will have annual capacity of 2 million tons, making POSCO the world's largest plate producer, with 7.25 million tons of capacity, when it opens in 2011.
      In addition to plant projects in China and Thailand, other domestic facility projects pursued this year by POSCO include steel recycling plants in both Gwangyang and Pohang (in partnership with Nippon Steel). It's also building a new 1-million-sq.-ft. (98,564-sq.-m.) global R&D center in Songdo Free Economic Zone, and in September completed the world's largest fuel cell plant, at 50 MW, at the Yeongil Port Industrial Complex. The company plans to open another fuel cell plant of equal capacity by 2011.