Merck completes expansion of OLED facilities in Pyeongtaek

Merck Korea, the local subsidiary of the German science and technology giant, said Thursday that it has completed expansion work of its local production plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. In October 2020, the company announced plans to invest 20 million euros ($21 million) into expanding facilities at the plant to produce key materials for organic light-emitting diode displays that had been imported from Germany. “We can now quickly respond to customer requests and demands in Asia

TechnologyJune 9, 2022

AmCham seminar discusses ESG risks

Business leaders and experts from South Korea and the US discussed solutions to tackle sustainability risks facing businesses during a seminar hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Korea on Thursday in Seoul. AmCham Korea Chairman and CEO James Kim stressed that doing business in responsible and socially conscious ways is more critical than ever, as both nations have renewed their commitment to creating sustainable global supply chains and addressing climate change issues. &l

IndustryJune 9, 2022

[Photo News] Taste of Southeast Asia

ASEAN-Korea Center Secretary-General Kim Hae-yong (sixth from right) and ambassadors representing the member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the commencement of ASEAN Trade Fair 2022 on Tuesday at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. The event, held in conjunction with local food exhibition Seoul Food 2022, runs through Friday and showcases food and beverage products from Southeast Asian companies. Officials from South Korea

IndustryJune 9, 2022

SK hynix to supply industry’s first HBM3 chip to Nvidia

SK hynix said Thursday it has started mass production of HBM3, the world’s best-performing DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, product, with the first batch being supplied to US chip giant Nvidia. Referring to high-bandwidth memory, the latest development vertically interconnects multiple DRAM chips, drastically increasing data processing speed compared to traditional DRAM chips. The latest HBM3 DRAM is the fourth generation of its HBM product. SK hynix, the world’s second-lar

TechnologyJune 9, 2022

South Korea tops shipbuilding order volume in May

　South Korean shipbuilders took back the top spot from China in the world market in May, winning nearly half of total global orders. 　Korean companies won 1.2 million compensated gross tonnage (CGT) in shipbuilding orders during the month, which accounted for 48 percent of the total global ship orders of 2.5 million CGT, according to the UK-based Clarkson Research Services on Tuesday.  　China came second with 0.84 million CGT, while Japan was in third place with 0.42 million CGT. 　C

IndustryJune 9, 2022

Hyundai Motor suffers output losses from cargo truckers' strike

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday the ongoing truckers' strike is affecting production at its main domestic plants, which are already suffering from a global chip shortage. About 6,500 out of 22,000 members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity began a general strike on Tuesday, demanding the government extend a freight rate system meant to guarantee their basic wages amid soaring diesel prices. Striking cargo truckers refused to deliver automotive parts to Hyundai's five plants in Ulsan from

IndustryJune 9, 2022

Seoul shares open lower ahead of US inflation data

Seoul shares opened lower Thursday as investors took to the sidelines ahead of the release of US inflation data later this week and amid woes over an economic slowdown. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 12.57 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,613.58 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a weak start, taking a cue from overnight Wall Street losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite retreated 0.73 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.81 percent

MarketJune 9, 2022

OECD cuts Korea’s growth forecast to 2.7%

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Wednesday forecasted that the growth of the South Korean economy would stay in the 2 percent range this year in the wake of the inflationary pressure and the prolonged war between Ukraine and Russia. Further, the France-based organization predicted that South Korea’s inflation would reach an upper 4 percent range this year. In its latest world economic outlook report, the OECD revised down its prediction on the gross domestic

EconomyJune 8, 2022

Korea’s Q1 GDP falls short on weak investment, consumption

South Korea’s economy grew 0.6 percent in the first quarter this year from three months earlier, lower than the 0.7 percent growth forecast in April, the Bank of Korea said Wednesday, citing weak investment and consumption as factors behind the revision. Growth in the gross domestic product for January-March, which slowed from 1.3 percent on-quarter in the previous cycle, expanded 3 percent on-year, also a drop from the 3.1 percent growth the central bank projected in April. “Data

EconomyJune 8, 2022

[Market Eye] Kakao share prices stall as company struggles to regain public trust

Kakao Pay shares tumbled Wednesday morning after it was reported that its second-largest shareholder Alipay was looking to sell 5 million shares -- about 10 percent of the total stake it holds in Kakao Pay -- in a block deal. The stock price of Kakao Pay fell 15.57 percent to close at 89,500 won. Despite the sell-off, the payment arm of IT giant Kakao said Alipay will continue to be a strategic investor and remain the second-largest shareholder, with 34.72 percent of Kakao Pay shares, and the

MarketJune 8, 2022

Korean shipbuilders start building Qatar’s LNG carriers

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has obtained a 1.07 trillion won ($850 million) order to build four LNG carriers for a Qatari state oil firm, it said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. The order is the first batch of a $20 billion deal that three South Korean shipbuilders -- Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and Samsung Heavy Industries -- had signed with Qatar in 2020. DSME said Tuesday that it will build the LNG carriers in the Okpo shipyard,

IndustryJune 8, 2022

[Photo News] At a stop

Mixer trucks are seen parked at a garage in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Wednesday, the second day of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity strike. South Korean truckers, under the hard-line umbrella group Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, went on an indefinite strike a day earlier, demanding the expansion of the Safe Trucking Freight Rates System and an increase in freight charges.

IndustryJune 8, 2022

Korean EVs, batteries’ global market share dips

The global market share of Korean-made battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and lithium-ion batteries shrank last year with greater competition from Chinese and German makers, according to a report released on Wednesday by a major business lobby group. Based on statistics from the International Trade Center, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) analyzed the changing landscape of the global BEV and lithium-ion battery industry which is growing at over 20 percent on annual average. BEVs refer t

MobilityJune 8, 2022

Seoul stocks close nearly flat on recession woes

South Korean stocks finished nearly unchanged Wednesday, weighed by concerns about inflation and an economic recession. The Korean won rose against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) slipped 0.19 points, or 0.01 percent, to close at 2,626.15 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 561 million shares worth some 7.4 trillion won ($5.9 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 481 to 360. Institutions sold a net 75 billion won, and foreigners offloaded 103

MarketJune 8, 2022

Revised hydrogen law to be promulgated this week

South Korea stepped closer to establishing an industrial ecology for hydrogen, as revisions to a regulation defining how companies should use hydrogen and what types of government support they would be given for exploring the latest technology will be promulgated as early as this week. The revised hydrogen law involves certifying and defining clean hydrogen, selling and usage requirements of clean hydrogen, and regulatory support for the purchase and supply of hydrogen power. According to the

IndustryJune 8, 2022

S. Korean retailers on real estate shopping spree

South Korean retail companies have been on a shopping spree recently, purchasing real estate in Seoul’s major commercial districts and preparing for new business development. According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, on May 31 fashion company CreaS F&C finalized the purchase of 1,950 square meters of land and a 9,338-square-meter building in Nonhyeon-dong, within Seoul’s Gangnam-gu. Based on the deal worth 130 billion won ($103.6 million), the firm stated that

ConsumerJune 8, 2022

Yoon’s picks for top financial officials face backlash

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s nominations to lead the nation’s top financial regulators have been met with skepticism, as critics say there have been too many prosecutors named already. Yoon, who has appointed several former prosecutors as Cabinet members, appointed an ex-prosecutor to lead the Financial Supervisory Services on Tuesday. Another former prosecutor had been mentioned as a candidate to head the Fair Trade Commission the same day. But the president’s office tweaked th

MarketJune 8, 2022

SKC to sell PET film biz to Hahn & Co. for W1.6tr

South Korean chemicals-to-materials firm SKC has inked a deal to sell its polyester film business to Seoul-based private equity firm Hahn & Co. for 1.6 trillion won ($1.27 billion) following a split-off, according to the firm’s regulatory filing Wednesday. The deal, involving operations in Korea, China and the United States and film processing unit SKC Hi-Tech & Marketing, is anticipated to reach closure before the end of this year, the filing said. All polyethylene film-related

IndustryJune 8, 2022

SK to hold strategic forum in San Jose

SK Group said Wednesday its annual SK Global Forum will be held this week in San Jose, California, with some 30 company executives and local experts gathering to discuss the conglomerate’s future growth drivers. During the three-day event that kicks off Friday in the US, five affiliates -- SK Innovation, SK Telecom, SK hynix, SK Siltron and SK C&C -- will hold sessions to share their business plans and market trends. SK Innovation, the energy and materials unit, will offer a bluepr

IndustryJune 8, 2022

LG Chem rises to world’s No. 3 chemical brand

Petrochemicals-to-battery materials company LG Chem has become the third most valuable chemical brand in the world, up a notch from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday. LG Chem’s brand value, estimated at $4.3 billion, followed that of Germany-based BASF and Saudi Arabia-based Sabic, according to London-headquartered consulting firm Brand Finance. LG Chem’s brand valuation rose over 19 percent compared to the estimate of the previous year. This is the highest point LG Chem has

TechnologyJune 8, 2022