Posco Holdings, the holding company of South Korea's top steelmaker Posco, said Monday that its operating profit in the second quarter reached 1.3 trillion won ($1.03 billion), recovering from a sluggish performance in the previous quarter this year. It is also the first time for the company's operating profit to surpass 1 trillion won since the second quarter of last year, the company added. During the three-month period, the company’s sales reached 20.1 trillion won, also up fr

Industry July 24, 2023

Shares of SK Chemicals soared sharply Friday, a day after the chemicals and drug developer announced that it signed a contract manufacturing deal for British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca’s diabetes medicines. Its shares started at 79,800 won ($62.27) as of 9 a.m., a 23 percent jump from the previous trading day. In the afternoon, the stocks were traded slightly lower at 72,200 won, still up around 11 percent from a day ago. In its regulatory fi

Industry July 21, 2023

South Korea's antitrust regulator on Thursday announced it has decided to assess 40.9 billion won ($32.3 million) of fines for 32 pharmaceutical firms and wholesalers for colluding to secure orders for the government’s vaccine procurement bids. The 32 companies included global pharmaceutical firm GSK, GC Biopharma, Yuhan, Boryung and SK Discovery, which has SK Plasma and SK Bioscience as subsidiaries. Under the the Fair Trade Commission's decision, Korea Vaccine Sales will receiv

Industry July 20, 2023

Prestige BioPharma, a Singapore-based Kospi-listed pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that the company has joined the Cancer Moonshot Project, a White House initiative aimed at advancing cancer prevention and treatment. The Cancer Moonshot initiative was first launched in 2016 and relaunched in 2022 by US President Joe Biden. The goal of the initiative is to cut the cancer death rate by 50 percent in the next 25 years. Its first project will aim to reduce the cost of cancer care and research by

Industry July 18, 2023

SK Biopharmaceuticals plans to increase its corporate value to $15 billion by 2026, largely buoyed by burgeoning sales of the company’s seizure treatment Xcopri, or cenobamate, said the company's CEO Lee Dong-hoon during a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday. Lee added that profits from Xcopri could be poured into mergers and acquisitions in the future, through which the company aims to diversify its product portfolio to include more biological medicines. According to SK Biopharmaceu

Industry July 18, 2023

Daewoo Engineering & Construction announced Monday that the South Korean builder has signed a memorandum of understanding with ERBUD, Poland’s third-largest construction firm, to carry out new projects in the European country, including the construction of nuclear power plants. The partnership was inked Friday in Warsaw as representatives from Daewoo E&C accompanied President Yoon Suk Yeol on his trip to Europe as members of the presidential delegation. The new partnership came in

Industry July 17, 2023

Hyundai Engineering & Construction said Monday that the company would join a postwar reconstruction project in Ukraine, signing an agreement with Boryspil International Airport Corporation for the airport's future expansion project. Boryspil International Airport is the largest airport in Ukraine. Located about 29 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, the airport is responsible for 62 percent of the country’s passenger traffic and 85 percent of its airborne cargo shipping. Under the agree

Industry July 17, 2023

Foreign laborers account for nearly 15 percent of construction workers here, according to a local report Sunday. According to the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, the number of foreign construction workers came to 109,865 as of March this year, accounting for 14.8 percent of the total 741,698 workers at construction sites. Of them, 99,836 were men, up 4,147 on-year, while the number of women increased slightly to 10,029. The increase was fastest among workers in their 20s, with a 22.

Industry July 16, 2023

Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Thursday its US partner Evolus’ botulinum toxin treatment program using its Nabota, or Jeuveau, has secured over 600,000 subscribers in the US. Daewoong added that 96 percent of patients enrolled in the botulinum toxin program have returned for a second injection, promising Nabota's further growth in the US market. Evolus is a California-based performance beauty company that is responsible for sales of Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s Nabota in the US marke

Industry July 13, 2023

Korea’s leading pharmaceutical firm Daewoong Pharmaceutical aims to achieve a fivefold increase in overseas sales within the next five years through the introduction of new drugs, according to the company's global business head on Friday. “My personal goal is to see Daewoong’s overseas sales reach 1 trillion won ($772.6 million) within the next five years,” said Kim Do-young, head of Daewoong Pharmaceutical's Global Business Development Center, during an intervi

Industry July 12, 2023

Samsung Biologics said Monday the company has signed a 511 billion won ($390.9 million) deal with Novartis to manufacture products for the Switzerland-based pharmaceutical firm. The latest deal follows a letter of intent that Samsung Biologics and Novartis signed in June last year. The two companies had originally agreed on a deal worth 100 billion won, but decided to amp up the investment, Samsung Biologics said. Other details, including what kinds of products Samsung Biologics will produce at

Industry July 10, 2023

GoldenBlue, a South Korean whiskey maker and distributor of imported liquor, said Friday it had filed a complaint against its former partner Carlsberg Group for unilaterally ending their distribution contract. In its complaint filed with the Korean Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday, GoldenBlue also argued that Carlsberg Group engaged in unfair trade practices during their contract period. In March, Carlsberg Group "unilaterally" terminated their contract for the distribution of Carlsb

Industry July 7, 2023

Reports that aspartame, a widely used artificial sweetener, could be reclassified as a possible carcinogen by the World Health Organization have sparked alarm among Korea's makgeolli makers and consumers. Makgeolli, or Korean rice wine, is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks here. In 2021, the makgeolli market was estimated at around 510 billion won ($392 million), with its exports reaching $15.8 million, up 26.8 percent from a year ago, according to data from the Food Information Stat

Industry July 6, 2023

Samsung Biologics, a South Korean contract development and manufacturing organization, announced Tuesday that the company has finalized two record deals worth $897 million with Pfizer. The deals completed Tuesday include a $193 million deal and a $704 million deal announced on June 8 in its regulatory filing. Including a $183 million deal signed in March, the combined value of Samsung Biologics-Pfizer deals this year amounts to a total of $1.08 billion. The combined value of total contracts Sams

Industry July 4, 2023

Posco Group announced Monday that it will invest 121 trillion won ($93 billion) by 2030 to step up as a global leader in eco-friendly materials. The new investment plan was announced during a ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of Posco’s first steel mill set up in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, in 1973. “With the investment, (the group) will secure future technologies, stay ahead in the growing industries and work toward a sustainable future through green materials,”

Industry July 3, 2023