Korea bans Brazilian beef imports over mad cow disease

Korea has suspended beef imports from Brazil due to fears of mad cow disease according to Valor, a Brazilian economic daily, on Tuesday. The Korean authorities could not be reached for confirmation Wednesday, a national holiday for the presidential election.South Korea became the sixth nation to ban Brazilian beef imports after China, Japan, South Africa, Egypt and Saudi Arabia after confirmation of a 2010 case of atypical bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, in Parana state by Brazil’s agr

Dec. 19, 2012

Korean auto parts makers to further grow on China

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) ― South Korean auto parts makers will likely continue to increase profits thanks to China’s automobile markets, a report said Wednesday.Parts makers with high earnings contributions from Chinese subsidiaries, such as Mando Corp., Sungwoo Hitech Co. and Hwashin Co., are expected to enjoy sound earnings growth, Woori Investment & Securities said in a report.“We believe that China will continue to post leading global auto sales growth in 2013 thanks to the Chinese government

Dec. 19, 2012

POSCO E&C wins $400m order from Vietnam

POSCO Engineering & Construction Co., a construction arm of South Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO, said Tuesday it has signed a $400 million deal to build a steel processing facility in Vietnam.Under the contract with Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp., an affiliate of Vietnam’s Formosa Group, POSCO E&C will build a raw material handling facility in a steel complex, located in northern Ha Tinh Province, with an annual production capacity of 7 million tons of steel, said the company.Imported materials

Dec. 18, 2012

Doosan Heavy receives W600b order from India

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co., South Korea’s leading power equipment maker, said Tuesday that it has clinched a 600 billion won ($559.5 million) deal to build two power plant boilers in India.Under the deal with NTPC Ltd., India’s state-run energy service company, Doosan Heavy’s local unit, Doosan Power Systems India Pvt., will supply two 800-megawatt steam generator boilers to be built for its Lara plant in the central part of India, said the company.Doosan Heavy already won a cont

Dec. 18, 2012

Credit card spending up 9.2 percent in Oct.

South Korea’s credit card spending climbed 9.2 percent in October from a year earlier due to rising consumer prices and improved employment, a trade association said Tuesday.Purchases made with credit cards totaled 43.6 trillion won ($40.6 billion) in October, up 3.7 trillion won from the previous year, according to the Credit Finance Association.On the other hand, transactions made with plastics edged down 4.9 percent on-month in October, as local credit card spending surged temporally in Septe

Dec. 18, 2012

KAI stake sale collapses again

The sale of the Korea Aerospace Industries, or KAI, collapsed again as it failed to attract enough bidders on Monday.Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world’s largest shipbuilder, placed its bid, but Korean Air, the nation’s flagship carrier, decided not to join the competition. At least two bidders are required to participate in bidding for the KAI sale to proceed.Korean Air said in a statement that it gave up the bidding because stock price of the state-run aircraft maker is overvalued. The first

Dec. 17, 2012

Woongjin Chemical to be put up for sale

Woongjin Group and its creditors have reached an agreement to launch the sale process of Woongjin Chemical next year as a method to improve the group’s financial soundness, bank officials said Monday.Woongjin Chemical’s parent Woongjin Holdings has been placed under court receivership over the past few months due to its financial woes involving heavy debt.“The group, which was instructed by the court to scale down unhealthy assets in consultation with its creditor banks, has no choice but to see

Dec. 17, 2012

BMW recalls nearly 2,200 cars

BMW Group Korea, the local distributor of German automaker BMW AG, is voluntarily recalling certain model year X5 and X6 sport utility vehicles for a problem with a bolt that can cause loss of power-assisted steering, the Transportation Ministry said Monday.The recall affects 1,579 X5 SUVs produced between Dec. 11, 2006 and Feb. 19, 2010, along with 616 units of X6 SUVs built from April 3, 2008 through Feb. 22, 2010, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.The ministry

Dec. 17, 2012

ASEIC tailors eco-technology for local needs

Technology transfer is one of the most sought-after forms of assistance for developing countries, but ASEIC thinks technology should be tailored for local needs to become more effective.ASEIC, which was established in 2011 with a mission of promoting eco-innovation at small and medium enterprises in Asia and Europe, adopts the concept of “appropriate technology” for its inclusive program. The program aims to provide technological aid to developing Asian countries, which will help raise their und

Dec. 16, 2012

Lottery sales exceed gov't cap for 2nd year

   Lottery sales in South Korea surpassed an annual government-set limit for the second straight year as more people bought tickets amid an economic recession, data showed Sunday.   Sales of lottery tickets totaled 2.91 trillion won ($2.71 billion) in the January-November period, exceeding the 2.87 trillion won ceiling recommended by the National Gambling Control Commission (NGCC), according to the data by government agencies.   If the trend continues, this year's lottery sales are expected to s

Dec. 16, 2012

Mexican firm sues SK E&C, Siemens over refinery project

Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico’s state- owned oil company, filed a $1.5 billion lawsuit against Siemens AG and South Korea-based SK Engineering & Construction Co., claiming the companies bribed Pemex officials to win and keep refinery construction projects.Siemens, which in 2008 paid $1.6 billion to settle a bribery investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, conspired with SK Engineering and a joint venture partner to bribe Pemex officials while bidding on a refinery modernizatio

Dec. 14, 2012

Korea’s total debt almost triple GDP

Debts of households, companies and the government in Korea in the third quarter amounted to nearly triple the country’s GDP last year, data showed Friday.The financial liabilities of households, nonprofit organizations, non-financial companies and the government stood at 3.59 quadrillion won ($3.34 trillion) in the three months to September, up 49.2 trillion won from the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea data.This is about 2.9 times the nation’s GDP last year of 1.24 quadrillion w

Dec. 14, 2012

Pension operators to boost investments in stocks

South Korea’s public pension operators plan to reduce their holdings of bonds and expand investment in riskier destinations such as stocks in a bid to bolster asset management earnings, sources said Thursday.The move came as returns from bond investment, which accounts for more than half of local public pension operators’ assets, are expected to fall down the road as interest rates remain low here.The central bank froze the key interest rate for the second straight month on Thursday, opting to p

Dec. 13, 2012

Brokerage houses struggle to tide over economic slowdown

South Korean securities companies are struggling to draw up emergency plans to boost profitability amid a protracted economic slump, industry sources said Thursday.Aside from reducing workers or streamlining businesses, major brokerages are pushing for such measures as providing specialized wealth management services for big-pocketed clients and promoting differentiated strategies to tap new profit sources. No. 1 player Samsung Securities Co. has set up a task force to provide exclusive manageme

Dec. 13, 2012