South Korea’s trade surplus in construction hit a ten-year low in October as depressed oil prices have stalled infrastructure orders in the Middle East.

According to data released by the Bank of Korea on Sunday, Korea posted a trade surplus of $428.7 million in the construction sector in October, down 32.9 percent from a year earlier. This is the lowest figure since the $390.7 million recorded in Feb. 2007.

Construction trade balance is money generated from overseas construction minus wages and local procurement costs.

Korea’s trade surplus in construction has so far played a critical role in offsetting chronic deficits in most services sectors including tourism, transportation and intellectual property. Construction has delivered a trade surplus every month since 2006 when the BOK started compiling the data, with the figure sometimes exceeding $1 billion during 2007-2014.

But this started to narrow in 2015 as oil prices began a downward spiral in late 2014, causing oil-rich countries in the Middle East to scale back orders, according to a BOK official. Oil prices are currently on the rise but there is still a drought in new orders, he said.

Korean companies generated $22.6 billion from overseas construction deals in the January-November period, down 3 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to International Contractors Association of Korea.

By Kim In-oh and Kim Hyo-jin

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