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

June 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

June 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

June 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

June 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,

June 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.

June 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

June 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

June 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

June 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

June 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

June 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

June 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

June 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

June 8, 2022

Seoul stocks open higher on US stock gains

South Korean stocks opened higher Wednesday, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 6.51 points, or 0.25 percent, to 2,632.85 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite grew 0.94 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 percent, on a technical rebound. In Seoul, top cap Samsung Electronics added 0.31 percent, and No. 2 chipmaker SK hynix increased 1.92 percent. Leading chemical firm L

June 8, 2022

Hanwha Q Cells to build solar power plant in Wyoming

Hanwha Q Cells, the solar solutions unit of South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group, said Wednesday it is building a new solar power plant in the US state of Wyoming under an electricity supply deal with an energy firm. The power supply deal with an unidentified firm calls for Hanwha to supply electricity to an energy company at negotiated prices on a long-term basis, it said in a release. It did not provide other details about the contract. The construction of the 150-megawatt solar power plant

June 8, 2022

S. Korea's economy grows slower than earlier predicted in Q1 amid weak investment, spending

South Korea's economy grew at a slightly slower pace than earlier predicted in the first quarter of this year as investment and spending weakened amid lingering worries over the coronavirus pandemic, central bank data showed Wednesday. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.6 percent in the January-March period from three months earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The growth rate was slightly down from 0.7 percent growth estimated in Apri

June 8, 2022

Top banker tapped as policy coordination chief, ex-prosecutor as new market police head

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday named Bang Moon-kyu, CEO of the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea, to be in charge of government policy coordination, and former prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun to lead Korea’s market watchdog, the Financial Supervisory Service. The president also appointed Kim Joo-hyun, chairman of the Credit Finance Association as chairman of the Financial Services Commission, a top financial policymaking unit, and Kang Seog-hoon, former presidential secretary for economi

June 7, 2022

Crisis management expert named as new FSC chief

Kim Joo-hyun, chairman of the Credit Finance Association and a former bureaucrat experienced in crisis management at the Financial Services Commission, was tapped to lead the top financial policymaker under the Yoon Suk-yeol government. Kim helped South Korea ride out the 2008 financial crisis as the inaugural chief of policy at the FSC, which was set up in January that year as part of a government reshuffle carried out by then-President Lee Myung-bak, who took office a month later. In 2011, K

June 7, 2022

Seoul shares dip over 1.5% amid woes over Fed's hawkish move; Korean won down by most in over 1 yr

Seoul shares nosedived by over 1.5 percent Tuesday amid concerns about fast-growing inflation pressure that may strengthen monetary tightening in the United States and other major economies. The Korean won steeply fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index 44.31 points, or 1.66 percent, to close at 2,626.34 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 517 million shares worth some 8.8 trillion won ($7 billion), with losers outnumbering gainers 730 to 163. Institu

June 7, 2022