South Korea’s Hyundai E&C cancels $521 million petrochemicals deal, cites Iran financing failure

Hyundai said the deal was canceled because “financing is not complete.” (File/Reuters)

• Hyundai said the Iranian customer’s ability to fund the project had been hit by the prospect of US economic sanctions
• US will reimpose sanctions against Iranian crude oil exports on Nov. 4

SEOUL: South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction said on Monday that it scrapped a 595 billion won ($521 million) deal to build a petrochemicals complex in Iran, saying the Iranian customer’s ability to fund it had been hit by the prospect of US economic sanctions against Tehran.
In a regulatory filing, Hyundai E&C said the consortium it led for the project’s construction canceled the contract on Sunday.
“The contract was canceled because financing is not complete, which was a prerequisite for the validity of the contract, as external factors worsened such as economic sanctions against Iran,” Hyundai E&C said in its filing.
From Nov. 4, the United States will re-impose sanctions against Iranian crude oil exports as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to force Tehran to accede to a more restrictive deal on limiting its nuclear and missile programs.