Korean battery makers set for growth as demand outside China soars

Three major South Korean battery cell makers -- LG Energy Solution, SK On and Samsung SDI -- are projected to see steady growth in revenue and profitability in the next few years as they race to meet the growing demand for secondary batteries to power electric vehicles in the United States, data showed Tuesday. The three companies' combined revenue will reach $121 billion by 2025, up nearly fivefold from the $27 billion recorded in 2021, according to Korea-based battery market tracker

Sept. 20, 2022

Saudi public VC funds in town in search of Korean startups

Saudi Arabia’s two major public investment funds have arrived in South Korea to look for local startups to add to their portfolios, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday. Jada, a fund-of-funds set up by Saudi sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund, and fellow state-run Saudi Venture Capital will cooperate with the Seoul government to find Korean “unicorns” or startup companies with a value of over $1 billion to invest in. The investment funds arrived in Seoul on

Sept. 20, 2022

Upbit Developer Conference to return in person this week

The Upbit Developer Conference, the nation's largest blockchain developer conference, will be back in person this year after two years of pandemic disruptions. According to Dunamu, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, on Tuesday, the 2022 UDC will be held in Busan from Sept. 22 to 23, with 50 speakers and over 3,000 attendees set to join the event. Launched in 2018, the annual gathering has attracted more than 617 companies and 15,100 visitors. This year’s event will cove

Sept. 20, 2022

S. Korea to see surge in milk price amid worsening inflation

Dairy product prices are likely to go up again as the price of locally produced milk is expected to increase as much as 500 won ($0.36) per liter, industry sources said Tuesday. Korea Dairy Committee, a private organization that oversees fair distribution of raw milk, carried out the first meeting between dairy farmers and dairy companies on Tuesday to negotiate the price of raw milk for this year. Even before the negotiation, the price of milk was widely expected to jump 300-500 won to 2,700-3,

Sept. 20, 2022

Korean adults drank 53 bottles of soju, 83 bottles of beer last year

The average South Korean adult consumed 52.9 bottles of soju and 82.9 bottles of beer last year, a report found Tuesday, equaling to a bottle of soju a week. According to the report based on sales data compiled from the National Tax Service and Korea Customs Service, a total of 825.8 million liters of soju and 1.79 billion liter of beer, including 255.2 million liter of imports, were distributed through local manufacturers last year. In terms of bottles, a total of 2.29 billion bottles of soju

Sept. 20, 2022

Hyundai Steel produces low-carbon, high-strength steel plates

Hyundai Steel has succeeded in producing low-carbon, high-strength steel plates, the company said Tuesday. It says it has become the first steelmaker globally to produce high-strength steel plates by using an electric arc furnace, which helps reduce carbon emissions drastically during the whole process. Electric arc furnaces are being increasingly adopted by steelmakers as they seek a strategic shift from the traditional blast furnace. Hyundai Steel said it recently produced a steel plate with m

Sept. 20, 2022

LG Chem renews commitment to customer value

LG Chem is renewing its commitment to upgrading value for customers, declaring 2022 as the “year of customers,” the company said Tuesday. As part of its efforts, the South Korean chemical specialist is extending its customer service network, called Customer Solution Campuses, around the world. Following Korea’s first CS Campus Daejeon in 1995, there are an additional two CS establishments in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, and Huanan of China. With a new Chinese CS campus under constr

Sept. 20, 2022

Financial firms continue to close offline offices amid increased use of mobile services

The number of offline offices run by financial firms in South Korea declined more than 1,000 over the past year as the use of mobile services spiked amid their fast transition to digitalization, data showed Tuesday. Local financial companies, including banks and insurers, had run a total of 15,924 offline offices in South Korea as of end-March, down 1,037 from the same month a year earlier, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service. Of them, the number of insurers' offlin

Sept. 20, 2022

Seoul stocks open higher ahead of Fed policy meeting

South Korean stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors picked up oversold issues ahead of the highly anticipated US Federal Reserve's rate-setting meeting. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 24.61 points, or 1.04 percent, to 2,380.27 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The market has been roiled amid worries that the Fed could raise its base interest rate by at least another 75 basis points in its two-day policy meeting that will kick off on Tuesday (US time). Some market wa

Sept. 20, 2022

Moviegoing returning to pre-pandemic levels

The number of people visiting cinemas in June nearly reached pre-pandemic levels, about 94 percent of figures seen in January 2019, according to a study released Monday. The number of moviegoers in the first half of this year surged 178 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a Lotte Members and Shinhan Card big data study conducted by aggregating data from all Lotte Cinema locations nationwide. Young adults in their 20s made up the largest share of all moviegoers at 27.3 per

Sept. 19, 2022

Seoul shares hit over 2-month low on prospect of another aggressive rate hike by US Fed

South Korean stocks dipped by more than 1 percent on Monday to extend their losing streak to a fourth day as market sentiment was dampened by the prospect of another sharp rate hike this week by the US Fed. The Korean won fell sharply against the US dollar. After opening higher, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price index (KOSPI) shed 27.12 points, or 1.14 percent, to 2,355.66, marking the lowest since July 12 when the corresponding reading was 2,330.98. Trading volume was light at 395.3 mil

Sept. 19, 2022

Weakening won raises concerns of higher trade deficit

The sharply weakening value of the Korean currency has raised alarms among onlookers in recent weeks as it could lead to higher trade deficit, taking a toll on the nation’s economy, sources said Monday. The Korean won was trading at 1,391.9 won against the US dollar around 2 p.m. on Monday, inching toward the symbolic 1,400 won-mark that had been only surpassed during past financial crises. The local currency fell below 1,400 won against the US greenback in December 1997 and November 2008

Sept. 19, 2022

Korea Herald to hold forum on tech reshaping humanity

The Korea Herald, the nation’s largest English newspaper by circulation, will hold its annual business forum on Oct. 19 to shed light on the latest technology trends that could change the way people live and the ways to make the transition smooth and effective. Under the theme of “Humanity in Tech,” the forum invites policymakers, industry leaders and diplomats to discuss what technological advances mean for people-to-people exchanges and the life adjustments needed to make the

Sept. 19, 2022

Inflation fears loom large as kimchi-making season nears

South Korean households are feeling the inflation pinch as they brace for the annual kimchi-making season later this year. The average price for 10 kilograms of cabbages, the key ingredient for kimchi, surged on-year by 116.6 percent to 32,940 won ($23.7) as of Sept. 16, data from the state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. showed. The price of 20 kg of white radish, which are fermented in spicy sauce and other flavorful seasoning, skyrocketed by 146.1 percent to 28,460 won in the

Sept. 19, 2022

OECD cuts S. Korea’s 2023 growth outlook to 2.2%

SEJONG -- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Monday predicted that the gross domestic product growth of South Korea would stay in the low 2 percent range next year. In particular, the Paris-based OECD forecast that the nation’s exports and private consumption would post slower-than-expected growth in 2023. In the 2022 OECD Economic Survey of Korea, the organization revised its outlook on the 2023 GDP growth of Korea to 2.2 percent, from its suggestion of 2.5 per

Sept. 19, 2022

Memory chip downtrend haunts Samsung, SK hynix

South Korean semiconductor stocks are treading on a bumpy road as slowing orders in the chip industry plaguing memory powerhouses Samsung Electronics and SK hynix have dampened prospects. Since January, Samsung Electronics' share price has fallen nearly 30 percent, while its hometown rival SK hynix has seen its share price drop over 30 percent. On top of this, stock analysts are revising down the price target of the two memory chip giants, and expecting the quarterly profit to turn slimmer

Sept. 19, 2022

Celltrion’s anticancer biosimilar Vegzelma gets sales approval in UK

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency -- the UK’s drug authorization body -- has granted Celltrion sales approval for oncology biosimilar Vegzelma in the country, the South Korean company announced Monday. According to Celltrion, Vegzelma was authorized for the treatment of multiple types of cancer including metastatic breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer. The UK approval came a month after Vegzelma received a green light from th

Sept. 19, 2022

Kakao Mobility, Hyundai Motor team up to debut self-driving taxi service

Kakao Mobility and Hyundai Motor Group said Monday they have teamed up to debut a new taxi-hailing service using autonomous driving technology, with the first test-run set to be carried out within the year. The two firms said they have recently signed a memorandum of understanding to test driverless driving technology and seek a mass-market debut of the new service. Under the partnership, Hyundai Motor’s self-driving taxi RoboRide, based on the carmaker’s flagship electric model Ioni

Sept. 19, 2022

S. Korean stocks open lower ahead of Fed policy meeting this week

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday as investors continued to remain cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 8.43 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,374.35 in the first 15 minutes of trading. The country's stock market has been roiled by expectations that the Fed could raise the base rate at least by another 75 basis points in its upcoming policy meeting slated for Sept. 20-21. In Seoul, market heavywe

Sept. 19, 2022

Samsung widens gap between Intel as world's largest chipmaker by revenue in Q2

Samsung Electronics Co. expanded its market share of the global semiconductor industry in the second quarter, maintaining its top spot, a research showed Monday. Samsung's chip revenue for the April-June period came in at a record quarterly high of $20.3 billion on the back of solid server demand, taking up 12.8 percent of the global total of $158.1 billion, according to research firm Omdia. Samsung's Q2 share was slightly up from the 12.5 percent it logged the previous quarter. In the

Sept. 19, 2022