LNG prices to further rise on surging global prices

Prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in South Korea will increase more than 8 percent in May amid rising global energy prices, the industry ministry said Friday. LNG rates for households and commercial users will go up between 8.4 percent to 9.4 percent starting May 1, leading to the users' extra payment of around 2,450 won ($1.93) per month on average, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The government has frozen LNG prices for households and general purpose since July 202

April 29, 2022

Seoul shares open higher on Wall Street gains

South Korean stocks got off to a strong start Friday, tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street fueled by upbeat earnings from major technology companies. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.43 points, or 0.62 percent, to trade at 2,683.92 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Estimate-topping results by Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. sent their stocks higher, helping the key US indexes erase recent losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.85 percent and the tech-heavy Nasd

April 29, 2022

Home transactions sink 47.6% in March on lending curbs

Home transactions in South Korea plunged 47.6 percent on-year in March on the government's tough lending curbs and rising interest rates, data showed Friday. The number of homes changing hands nationwide stood at 43,179 units last month, compared with 102,109 deals made a year ago, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The March figure also marked a 38.2 percent decrease compared with the average transactions logged over the past five years. The number of

April 29, 2022

Industrial output rebounds, retail sales fall in March amid omicron wave

South Korea's industrial output rebounded in March after two straight months of decline, but retail sales fell on-month amid the fast spread of the omicron variant, data showed Friday. Industrial production increased 1.5 percent in March from the previous month, compared with a 0.3 percent on-month drop in February, according to the data from Statistics Korea. Compared with a year earlier, industrial output rose 3.1 percent. Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on a recovery track on the back

April 29, 2022

LG reports record quarterly earnings on upbeat TV, appliance sales

LG Electronics on Thursday reported its best quarterly earnings in the first quarter this year, largely driven by the pent-up demand for TVs and home appliances amid the protracted coronavirus pandemic. For the January-March period, the firm posted 21.11 trillion won ($16.6 billion) in sales and 1.88 trillion won in operating profits, up 18.5 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, from a year ago. Both were the highest quarterly figures for the South Korean tech giant. Its home appliance and

April 28, 2022

IFA 2022 to bar Russia from joining

Organizers of Europe’s biggest consumer electronics show, Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, said Thursday it plans to ban companies from Russia and Belarus from the event this year in the German capital, as it pledged to go ahead with in-person exhibitions for the first time in three years. The comment signals IFA’s decision against Russian firms as being similar to that of the Mobile World Congress in 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. GSMA, the organizer of MWC 2022 in early March, al

April 28, 2022

LS launches EV charging biz unit

South Korean electric cable manufacturer LS Group has launched a subsidiary to run electric vehicle charging business, officials said Thursday. The new unit, LS E-Link, was jointly established by LS, the holding company, and E1, an LPG importer unit under the group. “As EV transition accelerates, power usage will grow in EV charging stations which means that power engineering will become more important for stable and efficient power supply,” said an LS Group official. LS‘ st

April 28, 2022

Kia joins Dutch campaign on plastic wastes from sea

Kia has partnered up with The Ocean Cleanup, a Netherlands-based nonprofit engineering environmental organization, to remove plastic wastes from the sea for a sustainable Earth, according to Kia on Thursday. The Ocean Cleanup develops cleanup systems to remove floating pieces of plastic caught in what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean -- and also scalable solutions to efficiently intercept plastic in rivers before it reaches

April 28, 2022

Hanwha chief, Heritage Foundation chairman discuss geopolitics, bilateral ties

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn on Wednesday met with Edwin Feulner, the founder of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based policy think tank, in Seoul and exchanged views on ongoing geopolitical issues affecting the global economy. 　 The latest meeting between Kim and Feulner took place as the American scholar visited Seoul for a conference. The two have maintained their friendship for over 40 years, according to officials. The two discussed a wide range of issues from price hikes o

April 28, 2022

Amorepacific Q1 profit drops on weak duty-free, overseas sales

South Korea’s cosmetics giant Amorepacific Group said Thursday its first-quarter net profit plummeted on-year by 13.4 percent to 171.2 billion won ($134.6 million), as sales dropped in duty-free business and in the Asian market due to the coronavirus pandemic. The group’s sales revenue decreased to 1.3 trillion won, down 9 percent in the cited period. Amorepacific Group’s domestic sales, accounting for approximately 60 percent of the total sales, decreased by 9.9 percent to

April 28, 2022

Samsung SDI posts earnings surprise in Q1

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI on Thursday reported its best-ever quarterly earnings for the January-March period, with sales exceeding 4 trillion won ($3.1 billion) for the first time. In the first three months of this year, revenue surged 36.7 percent from a year prior to 4.04 trillion won, while operating profits more than doubled to 322.3 billion won. Despite supply chain disruptions and rising materials costs, the company said it could offset the impact by selling more value-add

April 28, 2022

Outgoing fiscal chief hints at FX intervention over weakening won

SEJONG -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki on Thursday sent a signal that the financial authority would move to intervene in the foreign exchange market as the Korean currency sharply lost value against the US dollar recently. During a meeting to map out countermeasures against the current economic situation in Seoul, Hong said the won lost ground against the dollar at a fast pace this week. The rising dollar prices were attributed to the possibility of faster-than-expect

April 28, 2022

Kumho Tire to participate in global tire exhibitions

South Korean tire maker Kumho Tire said Thursday that it will participate in two international tire exhibitions that will kick off in Europe. Kumho Tire will showcase its products at the Tire Cologne 2022 set to be held in Cologne, Germany between May 24 and 26, and at the Autopromotec 2022, slated to take place in Bologna, Italy, between May 25 and 28. Kumho Tire will display its high-performing, summer, winter, all season, truck and bus, electric vehicle and future concept tires, according t

April 28, 2022

Retail sales up 7% in March amid worst COVID-19 wave

Retail sales in South Korea rose 7.1 percent in March from a year earlier on the back of growing demand for foodstuff, daily items and luxury goods amid the worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry ministry said Thursday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 13.69 trillion won ($10.81 billion) last month, up from 12.8 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Sales from offline stores rose 6.

April 28, 2022

S. Korea's auto exports edge down in Q1

South Korea's exports of autos declined for the first time in seven quarters in the January-March period amid global supply chain disruptions and Russia's war with Ukraine, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments of cars came to $10.93 billion in the first quarter, down 0.6 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service. Autos accounted for some 7 percent of South Korea's exports. It marked the first on-year fall since the second qu

April 28, 2022

Samsung Electronics profit jumps 51% on strong server chip demand, S22 Ultra sales

South Korean chip-to-consumer electronics giant Samsung Electronics posted a record quarterly revenue for three quarters in a row and logged a 51 percent increase in operating profit in the first quarter, its earnings guidance showed Thursday. Samsung Electronics said the solid chip demand for servers and high-end applications, as well as strong sales of the Galaxy S22 Ultra, which started replacing its Note lineup this year, dwarfed macroeconomic uncertainties and supply chain issues due to Ru

April 28, 2022

[Graphic News] Incheon Airport becomes world’s No. 2 in cargo handling

　Incheon Airport, the main gateway to South Korea, became the world’s second-busiest cargo airport in 2021, up one notch from the previous year, a trade body said. 　Incheon International Airport handled 3.23 million tons of international cargo, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Airports Council International. 　The airport, some 40 kilometers west of Seoul, ranked third in the world in terms of international cargo handling in 2019 and 2020. 　Hong Kong International A

April 28, 2022

Seoul shares open slightly higher amid Fed rate hike woes

South Korean stocks opened slightly higher Thursday as worries about an economic slowdown from the US Federal Reserve's widely expected interest rate hikes sapped investor appetite despite reports of sound corporate earnings this week. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 9.57 points, or 0.36 percent to trade at 2,648.63 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Shares traded mixed across the board. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics was up 0.15 percent to 65,100 won, after reportin

April 28, 2022

S. Korea to stabilize FX market amid won's sharp weakness: minister

South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday the government plans to take measures to stabilize the foreign exchange market, if needed, as the Korean currency has fallen against the US dollar at a fast pace. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki made the verbal intervention as the Korean currency hit an over two-year low against the greenback Wednesday amid heightened external economic uncertainty. "The government is closely monitoring the FX market in a bid to curb (the won's) excessive o

April 28, 2022

Hyundai Mobis taps ex-Mitsubishi exec to head Japan unit

Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts making unit of Hyundai Motor Group, said Wednesday it had tapped Yukihiro Hattori and Ryoichi Adachi as president and vice president of Hyundai Mobis Japan to strengthen sales and the intake of orders there. Hattori, who most recently served as director of purchases at Mitsubishi Motors, and Adachi, who had supervised purchases at Mazda Motor, will respectively oversee sales and orders, the Korean firm said.  “They have over 40 years of experience at J

April 27, 2022