US surges to third-largest importer of Korean marine engines amid AI data center boom

The United States has rapidly emerged as a major importer of Korean marine engines as demand for data center power sources surges.

Korea exported $13.21 million worth of marine engines to the US from January through May, already surpassing the full-year total of $12.97 million recorded last year, according to Korea Customs Service trade statistics released Tuesday. If the current pace holds, annual exports this year are on track to more than double last year's figure.

US-bound marine engine exports had been negligible as recently as 2024, totaling just $830,000. They then surged roughly 1,450 percent year-on-year in 2025, vaulting the US into the top three export destinations. China remains by far the largest buyer at $1.15 billion, but the US is rapidly closing the gap with second-place Vietnam at $60.04 million.

Unlike shipments to other countries — where marine engines are used primarily for vessel propulsion — exports to the US are driven mainly by demand for data center power. As investment in AI data centers has surged, operators struggling to secure conventional power equipment such as electrical devices and gas turbines have turned to marine engines as an alternative. Marine engines are particularly attractive because their shorter manufacturing lead times make them well-suited for data centers that need to come online quickly.

Korean marine engine makers are expanding capacity to meet the demand. Hanwha Engine plans to revive its medium-speed engine business, which it had in effect wound down in 2018, to serve the data center market. The company is set to complete a medium-speed engine factory this month and will have annual production capacity of 90 data center engines starting next year. Meritz Securities analyst Bae Gi-yeon said revenue recognition from the four-stroke medium-speed engine scale-up is expected to begin in 2028.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which signed a 627.1 billion won contract with a US energy infrastructure company earlier this year to supply medium-speed engines for data centers, is also widely expected to expand its own capacity. SK Securities analyst Han Seung-han said a decision to scale up medium-speed engine production capacity is "inevitable" to meet rapidly growing global data center demand, adding that such an expansion would secure "additional high-margin growth drivers."

The market sees Korean marine engine makers focusing even more heavily on the data center segment given its superior profitability. Data center marine engines fetch around 5 billion won per unit — more than twice the price of engines for ships — according to analysis by Korea Investment & Securities. Analyst Kang Gyeong-tae said allocating medium-speed engine capacity entirely to the data center market "generates greater sales than the marine vessel segment."