Container freight rates for US, EU up in May: data

Outbound container shipping costs for major destinations, including the United States and the European Union, rose in May from a month earlier, data showed Thursday. The average rate for a 40-foot container from Asia's fourth-largest economy to the US east coast came to 4.95 million won ($3,877), up 3 percent from a month earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. It marked the first time in 13 months for the rate to rise on-month, the agency said. Rates for the US west

June 15, 2023

S. Korea's fiscal deficit expands on-year in April

South Korea's fiscal deficit expanded in the first four months of 2023 from a year earlier amid economic uncertainties, data showed Thursday. The managed fiscal balance, a key gauge of fiscal health calculated on a stricter term, posted a deficit of 45.5 trillion won in the January-April period, larger than a shortfall of 37.9 trillion won a year earlier, according to the finance ministry. South Korea's tax revenue came to 134 trillion won during the cited period, down 33.9 trillion wo

June 15, 2023

S. Korea, Ecuador seek stronger economic ties through envisioned trade deal

South Korea and Ecuador on Thursday discussed ways to expedite the establishment of a bilateral free trade deal to boost trade and investment and to deepen industry ties, Seoul's trade ministry said. Negotiations are underway between the two sides for the Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement, a type of free trade pact, with nine rounds of talks having been held since 2016. On Thursday, Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun met with his Ecuadorian counterpart, Julio Jose Prado, in Seoul and discus

June 15, 2023

Seoul shares open higher after Fed rate pause

South Korean stocks opened higher Thursday, as investors digested the US Federal Reserve's pause in raising the interest rates and its signal that there still will be more rate hikes in the coming months. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gained 12.08 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,631.16 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The Fed held the interest rates steady in the range of 5.00 percent to 5.25 percent in its policy meeting Wednesday, the first such pause in the series of r

June 15, 2023

[From the scene] Is investment drought near end for Korean biotech?

Over 500 Korean companies and institutions gathered in Boston to take part in the BIO International Convention 2023 last week to discover new partnerships and to negotiate potential licensing deals. The number of participating Korean biotech and pharmaceutical firms and agencies doubled this year from a year ago, the largest after those from the United States, raising anticipation for the industry which experienced investment drought last year. “During this year’s event, multinatio

June 14, 2023

Seoul shares end lower ahead of Fed's rate decision

South Korean stocks finished lower Wednesday as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting. The Korean won fell against the US greenback. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 18.87 points, or 0.72 percent, to close at 2,619.08. Trading volume was high at 644 million shares worth 12.9 trillion won ($10.1 billion), with the number of decliners sharply outnumbering gainers 659 to 237. Institutions dumped a net 127.8 billion won worth of local sh

June 14, 2023

South Gyeongsang governor will head to Europe to promote Korea’s space vision

In the region's first attempt to initiate a global economic diplomacy, Governor of South Gyeongsang Province Park Wan-soo will make his first overseas business trip to Spain and France in a bid to support local companies' foray into the European markets and attract investments for Korea's aerospace industries, said Gyeongsang Province's investment agency on Wednesday. The trip, which will start in Spain, will see the Korean delegation meet with the Ambassador of Spain to Kore

June 14, 2023

US likely to extend exemptions for Korean chip production in China

South Korean chipmakers would be able to continue operating and upgrading their chip manufacturing plants in China, as the US is reportedly considering to extend the exemption on export controls against China. US Undersecretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez told an audience at an industry gathering last week that the government aims to extend exemptions for South Korean and Taiwanese chip suppliers with their facilities in China, according to a report by the Wall Street Jour

June 14, 2023

Korean biz leaders join forces for hydrogen leadership

South Korean business leaders on Wednesday reaffirmed their will to lead the global hydrogen economy and accelerate the hydrogen transformation in the country as they announced a set of initiatives to create and bolster the hydrogen ecosystem at the second general assembly of the Korea H2 Business Summit held in Seoul. The participants from the 17 members of the Korea H2 Business Summit, a corporate-led hydrogen alliance that kicked off in September 2021, underlined the country's transforma

June 14, 2023

Korea adds 351,000 jobs in May to post record employment rate

Total employment in South Korea reached 28.83 million in May, up 351,000 from a year earlier, data from Statistics Korea showed Wednesday. It was the second consecutive month that the nation’s on-year job growth increased, though the growth rate slowed slightly. Since the beginning of this year, the on-year monthly employment rate has been fluctuating in the range of about 300,000 to 400,000 individuals. In February, there were 312,000 more on-year employed individuals, and the figure peak

June 14, 2023

Samsung Electronics students' most favored employer for 1st time in decade

Samsung Electronics has been picked as the most desirable company to work for among college students here this year, occupying the top spot for the first time in a decade, a tally from a job portal showed Wednesday. Incruit surveyed 872 job-seeking university students nationwide and the results showed 8.1 percent of them chose the tech giant out of 130 listed companies by market capitalization on South Korea’s benchmark Kospi and secondary Kosdaq. Those who picked Samsung cited the company

June 14, 2023

Daesang begins production of bioplastic ingredient

South Korean food company Daesang said Wednesday it had completed a sample production of cadaverine, a biologically derived chemical that can replace petroleum-based substances in the production of nylon and other polymers. This comes in an effort to expand its business in white biotechnology -- a process that uses living cells from plants, enzymes and microorganisms to produce value-added chemicals, materials and fuel at a lower carbon cost. "We are conducting research and development of v

June 14, 2023

Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding wins order for 2 oil and chemical tankers

Hyundai Vietnam Shipbuilding Co., a unit of South Korean shipbuilding, oil refining and machinery conglomerate HD Hyundai, said Wednesday it has recently clinched an order to build two oil and chemical tankers for an African shipping company. The latest order raises its cumulative orders to 199 vessels, a feat achieved 15 years after its entry into the new business area of shipbuilding, the company said, without providing any details on the financial terms of the latest deal. Hyundai Vietnam Shi

June 14, 2023

S. Korea's ICT exports fall for 11th straight month in May

South Korea's exports of information and communication technology products dropped for the 11th consecutive month in May on a lingering economic slowdown and waning demand for semiconductors, government data showed Wednesday. Outbound shipments of ICT products came to $14.5 billion last month, down 28.5 percent from $20.2 billion a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The monthly ICT exports have been on the decline since July last year. The count

June 14, 2023

S. Korea to unveil measures to fill job openings in vulnerable sectors

South Korea plans to announce additional measures next month to help industries facing labor shortages fill job vacancies, the finance ministry said Wednesday. The move came as some 216,000 job openings remained vacant in April, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, amid the country's falling unemployment rate. "Along with customized measures for each sector, we plan to beef up employment services, apply flexible rules to utilize the foreign workforce, improve the working e

June 14, 2023

Seoul shares open tad lower ahead of Fed's rate decision

South Korean stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday as investors remained cautious over the Federal Reserve's rate decision later this week. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 6.17 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,631.78 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.83 percent as a modest rise in April inflation fueled hopes for the Fed's rate pause. In Seoul, most shares traded mixed. Market bel

June 14, 2023

Import prices snap 3-month fall in May on falling oil prices

Import prices fell in May to end a three-month rise on the back of falling oil prices, central bank data showed Wednesday. The import price index for May stood at 135.54, down 2.8 percent from April's 139.45, according to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea. The index also fell 12 percent compared with a year earlier, marking the sharpest decline since May 2020, when the comparable figure was 13 percent. Import prices of coal and petrochemical goods dropped 5.8 percent on-month last mont

June 14, 2023

[KH explains] Parents turn to growth hormone to give their children an edge

South Korea’s growth hormone deficiency treatment market has seen stunning growth in recent years, particularly with growing interest in children’s height among parents here. “I heard that there are three things that moms in Daechi-dong (Seoul’s infamous private education district) do for their children these days: teeth straightening, squint eye correction and growth hormone treatment,” a 36-year-old working mom living in Gyeonggi Province said on condition of anon

June 14, 2023

More flexible workweeks at Samsung, large firms

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it is introducing more flexible working hours by allowing employees to take one Friday off per month. Keen attention is being paid to the brand new working hour scheme launched by the nation’s largest company by sales, renewing discussions about the idea of a four-day workweek, two decades after a five-day workweek was introduced back in 2002. Samsung’s new policy will be applied to all employees who fulfill the required work hours of 160 to 168 hours

June 13, 2023

Celltrion aims to gain approvals for 5 biosimilars this year

South Korea's biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion said Tuesday it aims to have five additional biosimilars approved by the end of this year in a bid to dominate the global market worth 100 trillion won ($78.5 billion), along with its existing six products. According to Celltrion, the firm plans to obtain approval for the global licenses of five of its biosimilar products by the end of 2023 to hit the market by 2025. The company has six of its biosimilar drugs currently being sold abroad. The b

June 13, 2023