SGC E&C ranks 10th in industrial and environmental construction, cementing plant expertise

SGC E&C, a global engineering, procurement and construction company, ranked 10th in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 2025 construction performance survey for the industrial and environmental facilities sector, the company announced Thursday. The ranking marks the latest step in a steady climb: SGC E&C placed 20th in 2024, 18th in 2025 and 15th in 2026 in the ministry's annual construction capability assessment for the same category.

Founded in 1967 from the technology division of OCI — formerly Dongyang Steel Chemical — SGC E&C has spent nearly six decades building a plant-focused order portfolio at home and abroad. The company maintains its own engineering organization and has been diversifying into high-value industries including semiconductors, pharmaceutical biotech, and chemical and industrial plants, drawing on its in-house technical expertise and accumulated know-how.

In 2024, SGC E&C secured $1.3 billion in new overseas orders, primarily through projects in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, ranking sixth among domestic construction companies for overseas order intake. As quality projects move into active construction phases, profitability has improved significantly in line with project progress.

This year, SGC E&C plans to focus on large-scale global projects by leading with its core plant competency, while also moving quickly to capture domestic semiconductor facility investment opportunities in the second half.

Overseas, the company is continuing order discussions with global project owners through its established network of trusted relationships, including ongoing communication with Aramco and SABIC — integrated energy and chemical companies with which SGC E&C discussed strategic cooperation earlier this year. The company is also working to identify new business opportunities in Malaysia and advance cooperation discussions through its partnership with OCI Theracus — formerly OCIM — a subsidiary of OCI Holdings.

On the domestic front, SGC E&C plans to leverage its semiconductor construction track record to generate new orders across three areas: a scale-up of a semiconductor back-end process factory in Incheon, construction of a semiconductor packaging and testing factory, and a new semiconductor components manufacturing factory in Gwangju's Opo area.

SGC E&C has worked to build capabilities that allow internal technical review and rapid technical support throughout project execution, backed by its in-house engineering organization. Even on industrial plant projects where schedule adherence is critical, the company has demonstrated differentiated execution competitiveness by meeting tight client-mandated timelines while maintaining high construction quality.

A standout example is the Amkor Technology semiconductor packaging and testing factory project, for which SGC E&C signed a $300 million construction contract with Amkor Technology in July 2022. The project was completed just 15 months after breaking ground, setting a record as the fastest completion among comparable projects in Korea and abroad.

Alongside this, SGC E&C entered Korea's Good Manufacturing Practice business in 1998 — the first domestic company to do so — and has since provided EPC total solutions for pharmaceutical and biotech plant construction, including biotech cleanroom facilities. GMP is a system that ensures medicines are consistently produced and managed in accordance with appropriate manufacturing and quality standards.

"We will continue to build a portfolio of quality projects using SGC E&C's unrivaled plant expertise, accumulated over the years, and maintain a solid operating profit trajectory," Chief Executive Lee Chang-mo said. "We will firmly establish a foundation for sustained growth with petrochemicals and high-value sectors such as semiconductors as our two pillars."