Korean exports to drop 9% in Q4: think tank

South Korea's exports are expected to contract in the fourth quarter due to a lingering slump in global demand, but its pace will slightly slow down, a think tank said Wednesday.  The Korea Exim Bank Oversea Economic Research Center said the value of outbound shipments by Asia's fourth-largest economy will likely decrease 9 percent on-year in the October-December period.  The country's exports reached US$128.3 billion won in the July-September period, dropping 9.5 percent from a year earlier.  T

Nov. 4, 2015

Seoul shares up 0.12% in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks edged up 0.12 percent late Wednesday morning amid optimistic U.S. economic data.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 2.4 points to 2,045.53 as of 11:20 a.m.  Oil refiners led the increase, with industry leader SK Innovation rising 2.13 percent and No. 3 S-Oil adding 1.29 percent.  Leading automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.62 percent after revealing its plan to launch a new global brand, while its sister Kia Motors moved up 1.03 percent.  Big-cap Samsung Group

Nov. 4, 2015

Korea's foreign reserves rise $1.49 bln in Oct.

South Korea's foreign exchange reserves grew slightly from a month earlier in October, largely on an increase in overseas deposits, the central bank said Wednesday.  The country's foreign exchange reserves came to $369.6 billion as of the end of October, gaining $1.49 billion from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea.  South Korea's foreign exchange reserves rose for the second consecutive month in October, with the amount increasing $180 million in September from the previous month. 

Nov. 4, 2015

Korea seeking to expand investment in Uzbekistan

South Korea is seeking to expand investment in Uzbekistan as the Central Asian country moves to privatize state-run enterprises, the government said Wednesday.  According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, a delegation of government officials and businessmen will visit Tashkent on Friday to take part in an international investment forum.   The forum will outline Uzbekistan's effort to privatize 68 state-run enterprises in the chemical, oil and gas and electricity fields. Foreign comp

Nov. 4, 2015

Seoul shares open higher on chemical gains

South Korean stocks started higher Wednesday as petrochemicals rallied on the back of a rise in crude oil prices.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index added 4.28 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,052.68 in the first 15 minutes of trading.          Refiners were up as crude oil prices rose about 4 percent as a rally in U.S. gasoline and diesel added support to oil markets.  Top refiner SK Innovation increased 2.13 percent and No. 3 S-Oil surged 1.59 percent.  SK, the de facto holding firm

Nov. 4, 2015

Gov't to roll back excise tax base on imported luxury goods

The government will rescind its earlier decision to adjust excise taxes on certain imported luxury goods after it has found no actual price benefits reaching consumers, the finance ministry said Tuesday.  In late August, the finance ministry raised the minimum tax base for seven luxury items as of Aug. 27 in a bid to get companies and importers to lower prices that can spur consumer spending. The seven are jewelry, furs, handbags, watches, furniture, carpets and cameras.  The government raised t

Nov. 3, 2015

Korea's dependence on China trade deepens: data

South Korea is becoming more reliant on its trade with China, data showed Tuesday, a worrisome development as the world's No. 2 economy is expected to grow at a slower pace in the future.  Figures released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Statistics Korea, showed Asia's fourth-largest economy becoming more dependent on its neighbor for its exports.  In the nine months of this year, South Korea shipped US$102.1 billion worth of goods to China, accounting for 25.7 percent of all o

Nov. 3, 2015

APEC summit unlikely to discuss expanding TPP membership: U.S. official

The upcoming summit of Asia-Pacific economies is unlikely to talk about expanding membership of the recently concluded Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, a senior U.S. official said Monday.  Matt Matthews, deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, made the remark during a Foreign Press Center briefing previewing the Nov. 18-19 summit of APEC leaders in the Philippines, stressing that the current focus is on getting ratification for

Nov. 3, 2015

Seoul shares nearly flat in late-morning trade

South Korean stocks traded a tad higher late Monday morning as investors took to the sidelines amid rising speculation over a U.S. interest rate hike, while foreigners snapped up recently battered stocks.  The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index inched up 1.3 points, or 0.06 percent, to 2,030.78 as of 11:20 a.m.  Samsung Life Insurance, a unit of top conglomerate Samsung Group, rose 3.67 percent after it announced a share buyback program worth 700 billion won ($613.1 million) on Friday,

Nov. 2, 2015

Korea's current account surplus soars on falling imports in Sept.

South Korea's current account surplus widened from a month earlier in September but mostly because imports dropped at a faster clip than exports, central bank data showed Monday.  The current account surplus came to $10.61 billion last month, compared with a revised $8.4 billion surplus in the previous month, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea. September marks the 43rd consecutive month of surplus, the longest streak of surplus in the country's history.  The September figur

Nov. 2, 2015

Korea's subcontract environment improving as gov't clamps down on violations

South Korea's subcontract environment is improving steadily as the government clamps down on unfair practices, a poll carried out by local businesses showed Sunday.The poll carried out by the Fair Trade Commission on some 100,000 businesses this year showed both contractors and subcontractors saying violations have declined compared with 2014.The antitrust watchdog checked 24 categories of subcontract law violations covering such areas as delayed payment, failure to issue formal paper contracts

Nov. 1, 2015

Chinese premier stresses no need to be worried about world's No. 2 economy

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told South Korean businessmen Sunday there is no need to be overly concerned about the state of the world's No. 2 economy, and that China will continue to grow at a good pace.In a gathering with South Korea's top business leaders in Seoul, the top policymaker said that while there may be some worries about the state of certain Chinese economic indicators, Beijing is confident that there will be no serious jolt."In regards to minor jolts and bumps there really is no rea

Nov. 1, 2015

Seoul shares to stay rangebound on U.S. rate woes next week

South Korean shares are expected to trade in a tight range next week as investors remain concerned over a possible U.S. rate increase, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,029.47 points on Friday, down 0.54 percent from last week.Earlier this week, the South Korean stock market gained ground on the back of upbeat data from China, the country's top trading partner.The market, however, later edged down as investors took a wait-and-see approach

Oct. 31, 2015

BNP forecasts Korea’s rate cut in 2016

Despite the bounce-back in the third-quarter gross domestic product, some global investment banks’ outlook on the Korean economy still remains “pessimistic.”In addition, there are projections that the Bank of Korea could choose to conduct an interest rate cut once more early next year due to weak improvements in a variety of indexes.BNP Paribas economist Mark Walton said in a report -- released Friday -- that questions remain over the sustainability of the third-quarter growth.“Weak external dem

Oct. 30, 2015

Korea, Japan, China agree to speed up FTA, RCEP talks

South Korea, Japan and China agreed Friday to accelerate talks aimed at establishing a three-way free trade agreement and a new mega trading bloc encompassing Asia and Oceania, the government said.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said policymakers at the Trilateral Economic and Trade Ministers' Meeting in Seoul exchanged views on ways to expand trade and investment between the Northeast Asian neighbors."All sides agreed to work more closely on the FTA and the Regional Comprehensive Eco

Oct. 30, 2015

Google chief stresses importance of deregulation

Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc., the holding company of Google Inc., said Friday that flexible regulations will help South Korea amid the protracted economic slowdown. "I know that your country is seeing an economic slowdown. My recommendation would be to adopt more flexible regulations to unleash the creativity of (South) Korean citizens," Schmidt said during a visit to Seoul.It is his first visit since Google changed to a holding company structure in August 2015. He previousl

Oct. 30, 2015

Korea's passenger cars exports down 5.7 pct in Q3

South Korea's passenger car exports fell in the third quarter mainly due to a drop in demand from China, customs data showed Friday.The total value of exported vehicles came to $8.76 billion in the July-September period, down 5.7 percent from the $9.23 billion a year earlier, the Korea Customs Service said.Carmakers shipped out 639,000 cars in the three-month period, a 2.3 percent decline from the 653,000 in the third quarter of 2014."Exports to China nosedived 66 percent on-year to $160 million

Oct. 30, 2015

Korea's industrial output jumps 1.9% in Sept.

South Korea's industrial output rose at the fastest pace in three months in September on strong demand for semiconductors and autos, a government report showed Friday, fueling expectations that the economic recovery is gaining steam.According to the report by Statistics Korea, production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries jumped 1.9 percent on-month in September, accelerating from a 0.2 percent on-month gain in August. The increase marks the second month in a row that o

Oct. 30, 2015

Korean manufacturers' sentiment remains weak for Nov.

A majority of South Korean manufacturers remain pessimistic about their business conditions in November even though more firms expect conditions for their exports to improve, a poll showed Friday.The business survey index of manufacturing companies came to 70 for November, unchanged from the previous month, according to the survey by the Bank of Korea.A reading below the benchmark 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists.The index of non-manufacturing firms also remained unchanged from a month e

Oct. 30, 2015