Auto exports hit 7-year high in 2021

South Korea's exports of autos rose to the highest point in seven years last year due to the low base effect and strong demand for eco-friendly cars, customs data showed Thursday. The country's outbound shipments of cars came to $42.6 billion last year, up 23 percent from the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service. It marked the largest amount since 2014, when auto exports were valued at $44 billion. The brisk exports came even as Korean automakers suffered

Jan. 27, 2022

Seoul stocks open steeply lower on FOMC results, Russia-Ukraine risk

South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Thursday as investors digest the US central bank's policy meeting results and the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) retreated 26.94 points, or 0.99 percent, to 2,682.3 points as of 9:18 a.m. Stocks came off to a weak start after the US Federal Reserve chief signaled rate hikes in March. The escalating Russia-Ukraine political tensions also sapped the investor appetite for risky assets.

Jan. 27, 2022

Naver 2021 net surges 20 times amid pandemic

South Korea's top internet portal operator, Naver Corp., said Thursday its net profit jumped nearly 20 times in 2021 from the previous year on the back of the non-contact trend amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Naver's net profit reached 16.41 trillion won ($13.7 billion) last year, compared with a net profit of 836.2 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating income reached 1.32 trillion won for all of 2021, up 9.1 percent from the year before. Sales reached a

Jan. 27, 2022

S. Korea to take market-stabilizing steps if needed: official

South Korea plans to take measures to stabilize the country's financial market when needed, a senior government official said, after the Federal Reserve signaled at a rate hike in March to tame inflation. The finance ministry assessed the Fed's monetary policy stance as hawkish, but it said the outcome of the US central bank's latest rate-setting meeting is expected to have a limited impact on the South Korean market. Fed chief Jerome Powell said Wednesday (US time) that it has "quite a b

Jan. 27, 2022

Exports of cars, oil products forecast to be brisk this year

South Korea's exports of cars and petroleum products are expected to grow solidly this year, but the outlook for steel, ships and other key items is gloomy, a poll showed Thursday. According to the survey taken by the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), outbound shipments of cars are projected to expand 6.2 percent this year from last year's $46.5 billion. The lobby for South Korea's family-controlled conglomerates attributed its upbeat prediction to improving consumer confidence across the

Jan. 27, 2022

Manufacturers' biz sentiment down for February

South Korean manufacturers' business sentiment worsened for February amid worries over sluggish demand from video, communication and equipment sectors, central bank data showed Thursday. The business sentiment index (BSI) for local manufacturers came to 90 for February, down from 92 for this month, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). The index measures manufacturers' prospects for business conditions in the following month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimis

Jan. 27, 2022

Court blocks Namyang Dairy boss from pursuing side deal

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday granted an injunction to local private equity firm Hahn & Co. to stop Namyang Dairy Products from selling a majority stake to a third company. 　 The court ruled that Namyang should cut all ties to Dayou Winia Group. It had attempted to sell a majority stake in a deal reached with Dayou in November last year, effectively freezing out Hahn & Co., with which it had previously agreed to sell the stake. Namyang had tried to fill its key position

Jan. 26, 2022

LG Display says high OLED sales dwarf 2021 market slump

LG Display turned around to profit in 2021 for the first time in three years, buttressed by strong sales of OLED panels for large TV sets, officials said in a conference call Wednesday. The company logged a 2.23 trillion won ($1.86 billion) operating profit for 2021, turning around from 36.47 billion won losses. The figure was slightly lower than the consensus estimate provided by market intelligence firm FnGuide. Its annual sales came to 29.88 trillion won, up 23.1 percent from the previous ye

Jan. 26, 2022

Hyundai Steel develops premium steel plate for EVs

Hyundai Steel said Wednesday it has developed a premium 1.5 GPa martensitic steel plate to be used on electric vehicles. According to South Korea’s No. 2 steelmaker, the new plate is flatter and has higher crack resistance than any other in the same product category, allowing it to be used on battery containers for EVs, bumpers, and roof sides. Usually, a 1.5 GPa martensitic steel plate is not flat enough and cracks easily due to hydrogen penetration. But Hyundai Steel used a heat tec

Jan. 26, 2022

LS Cable & System completes new cable plant in Indonesia

LS Group’s cable manufacturing unit, LS Cable & System, announced Wednesday that it has completed the construction of a new power cable plant in Indonesia in its latest push to secure footing in the burgeoning market. The new plant, called LSAGI, is a joint venture between LS Cable & System and Artha Graha Network, Indonesia’s 10th-largest conglomerate. The Korean firm owns a 75 percent stake in the entity. The plant, located on a 64,000-square-meter site in the Artha Ind

Jan. 26, 2022

Anchor Equity-backed Fresheasy acquires smaller rival for W100b

Korea’s largest meal kit provider Fresheasy said Wednesday it acquired its smaller rival Tasty9, the No. 2 player, for 100 billion won ($83.5 million) in a move to further strengthen its leadership in the burgeoning ready meal market here. The latest deal is the fourth in a series of acquisitions it has carried out under new ownership. In October last year, Hong Kong-based Anchor Equity Partners acquired a controlling stake in Fresheasy for an estimated 300 billion won. Over the three

Jan. 26, 2022

Natural decline in population hits all-time high in November

SEJONG -- South Korea’s monthly decline in population reached the record-high of more than 8,000 in November, with the demographic tally losing by more than 40,000 for the first 11 months of 2021, state data showed Wednesday. This suggests that government policies to promote marriages and births have lacked efficacy in terms of easing worries over the so-called demographic cliff. According to Statistics Korea, the number of births stayed at 19,800 in November. This marked the second-lowe

Jan. 26, 2022

[Market Eye] Companies fret over new industrial accident law

South Korean companies are fretting over a new industrial safety law that goes into effect Thursday, voicing concerns over the law’s lack of clarity and “excessive penalties” to hold CEOs accountable for fatal industrial accidents.  According to the Serious Accident Punishment Act, which targets companies with more than 50 employees, business owners or management held responsible could face a criminal penalty of a minimum one-year prison term or fines of up to 1 billion

Jan. 26, 2022

Samyang Foods partners with Good Neighbors for child advocacy

South Korean food manufacturer Samyang Foods signed an agreement with Good Neighbors, a child advocacy non-governmental organization in Seoul, to promote child protection, the company said Wednesday. Under the agreement, the company donated 10 million won ($8,350) as a scholarship raised through a matching grant program participated by its executives and staff. Last year, Samyang Foods established a partnership with a district branch of the organization in Seongbuk-gu, where the company‘s

Jan. 26, 2022

LG Energy Solution, GM to build 3rd EV battery plant in US

LG Energy Solution and General Motors said Wednesday they will invest $2.6 billion to build their third electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in the US. The facility will be located in Lansing, Michigan. The factory will begin mass production in early 2025 and produce 50 gigawatt-hours of EV batteries per year once fully operational, which is enough to power 700,000 EVs that can travel more than 500 kilometers in a single charge. The investment is expected to create 1,700 new jobs.

Jan. 26, 2022

Posco Chemical posts record revenue on EV battery demand

Posco Chemical posted record revenues in 2021, largely buoyed by a robust performance of its secondary battery materials business, the company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. According to the refractory and secondary battery materials arm of South Korean steel giant Posco, its sales surged 27 percent to 1.98 trillion won ($1.65 billion) on-year, a record figure in the company’s history. Operating profits also soared 101.9 percent to 121.7 billion won in the same period. Po

Jan. 26, 2022

SKC-led consortium bets $80m for next-generation EV battery materials

SKC, the chemicals unit of South Korea’s No. 3 conglomerate SK Group, said Wednesday it has invested $80 million with partners to secure next-generation electric vehicle battery technologies. According to SKC, it formed a consortium with SJL Partners, BNW Investment and Kiwoom PE and invested $80 million in Nexeon, which develops materials that go inside the minus sides of electric vehicle batteries. Through the investment, the consortium secured a partial stake in the British firm a

Jan. 26, 2022

[Newsmaker] Korea to invest W9tr to speed up digital transformation

South Korea will inject a record-high 9 trillion won ($7.5 billion) this year into its drive for digital transformation as part of the country’s Digital New Deal plan, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday. The biggest portion of the state fund, 5.9 trillion won, will be poured into strengthening the ecosystem of data, network and artificial intelligence. By the end of this year, it plans to set up 310 additional kinds of AI learning data and a comprehensive platform service t

Jan. 26, 2022

Banking groups beef up auto financing to lure young drivers

South Korea’s banking groups have started upgrading their auto loan and financing services to the next level this year, aiming to go beyond their traditional business to attract mobile-first customers. KB Financial Group, the nation’s No. 1 banking group by total assets, has expanded its car financing services offered via online and mobile platforms, mostly through its leasing and installment financing unit KB Capital. On Jan. 4, KB Capital signed a deal with Volvo’s electri

Jan. 26, 2022

Kia Q4 net rises 30% on weak won, SUVs

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, said Wednesday its fourth-quarter net profit rose 30 percent from a year earlier on a weak won and increased SUV sales. Net profit for the three months ended in December jumped to 1.248 trillion won ($1.04 billion) from 961.6 billion won during the same period of last year, the company said in a statement. "A combination of a weak won, improved product mix and reduced incentives helped offset the impact of chip supply chain problems and th

Jan. 26, 2022