CJ Korea Express, the shipping unit of South Korean conglomerate CJ Group, is expanding its presence in the global cargo delivery market by securing major deals with clients around the world and partaking in global construction projects.　In January, CJ secured a deal with GS Engineering & Construction to deliver its equipment to be used in building the Socar Turkey Aegean Refinery, to the Port of Aliaga in western Turkey, the company said.CJ Korea Express loads up cargo to be shipped to Turkey f

Industry April 14, 2016

Samsung Bioepis’ Enbrel biosimilar won a supply deal from Denmark’s drug procurement agency Amgros on Tuesday, becoming the priority etanercept drug used for treating rheumatoid arthritis in the country, an industry source told The Korea Herald on condition of anonymity.　Benepali, Samsung’s biosimilar version of Amgen’s top-selling Enbrel, is expected to take away at least 50 percent of the original drug’s market share in Denmark, as local hospitals and doctors favor prescribing drugs selected b

Industry April 13, 2016

South Korea’s largest food manufacturer Nongshim on Tuesday said its Japanese affiliate rose 22.6 percent on-year to reach $9 million in the first quarter, buoyed by its enhanced marketing efforts.It marks the biggest on-year sales hike ever recorded among Nongshim’s overseas branches as well as the largest sales volume logged by Nongshim since business began declining in 2012, the firm said.Nongshim’s “Shin Ramyun Kitchen Car” (Nongshim)“Since first exporting (its flagship spicy ramen) Shin Ram

Industry April 12, 2016

Major coffee franchise operators in South Korea experienced sharp drops in profits last year in the face of intensifying competition from low-cost coffee vendors and the continued economic downturn.Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a U.S. franchise run by Seoul-based Mirae Asset Private Equity Fund, saw its net income decline by 67.4 percent on-year to 2.54 billion won ($2.22 million) in 2015, its regulatory filing showed.　Its sales dropped by 5.1 percent on-year to 138.9 billion won in 2015, while its op

Industry April 12, 2016

CJ MEETS WITH HEILONGJIANG -- CJ Group chairman Sohn Kyung-shik (left) and Wang Xiankui, secretary of China’s Heilongjiang province, meet at the CJ E&M headquarters in northwestern Seoul on Monday to discuss ways to expand their collaborative partnership in the realms of business and culture. CJ currently operates an animal feed factory boasting annual output of 70,000 tons and three CGV movie theaters in Heilongjiang province. (CJ Group)

Industry April 11, 2016

Korea’s leading food maker CJ CheilJedang said Monday that an herbal probiotic found in Korea’s traditional cabbage dish kimchi has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Lactobacillus plantarum CJLP133 is now recognized as a new dietary ingredient by the FDA. It joins a handful of Korean ingredients already approved by the U.S. regulator including cynanchum wilfordii, ecklonia cava, black ginseng and bio-germanium.Lactobacillus plantarum CJLP133 (CJ CheilJedang)“The approval of

Industry April 11, 2016

The Korean government’s push to create a more flexible labor market, which includes plans to ease employment regulations and expand the use of temporary workers, has been hotly debated in the country over the past few years.　Despite controversy, President Park Geun-hye’s proposed labor reforms are aligned with the structural changes that labor markets around the world are now undertaking, according to the chief of U.S.-based global staffing agency ManpowerGroup.　“We think that Korea’s proposed l

Industry April 11, 2016

The South Korean food industry pledged Friday to actively partake in new government measures aimed at reducing citizens’ sugar consumption and promoting public health.　Local food companies say they are already engaged in efforts to reduce sugar content in their products and will continue on this trajectory in line with rising health consciousness here and abroad.　“The food industry will actively abide by the government’s new policy toward sugar reduction,” the Korea Food Industry Association sai

Industry April 8, 2016

From China to the U.S., South Korean cosmetics firms have been making inroads into the global market by diversifying their product lines and brand image to satisfy customers with different skin conditions, culture and style.　Despite their rapid growth overseas, they may be missing a big opportunity to take a lead in the Islamic countries -- seen as markets with great potential and demand for beauty products, industry insiders said.The reason for Korean companies’ passive attitude has a lot to do

Industry April 7, 2016

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Korean biopharma company Celltrion’s Remicade (infliximab) biosimilar on Wednesday, marking the second entry of a biosimilar drug in the U.S. pharmaceutical market.　The U.S. regulator approved Inflectra, Celltrion’s biosimilar replication of Johnson & Johnson’s blockbuster drug Remicade, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other conditions.Celltrion CEO Kim Hyoung-ki speaks during a press conference hel

Industry April 6, 2016

Organica Day, the juice-making arm of Herald Corp. said Tuesday that it has begun operating its new juice production plant equipped with high pressure processing technologies, in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.　The new plant, acquired by Organica Day from CJ CheilJedang in December last year, has been remodeled and optimized to manufacture the juice brand’s all-natural, cold-pressed cleanse juices currently sold at Starbucks, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Artisee and E-mart Traders.Organica Day’s Anse

Industry April 5, 2016

South Korea and Mexico signed an agreement in Mexico City Tuesday to mutually recognize each state’s pharmaceuticals qualification standards, a move expected to expedite the entry of Korean drugs into the Mexican market.　The deal will take effect once Mexico officially joins the Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme, an international body that sets an international manufacturing quality standard for new drugs. The U.S., European Union, Japan and Korea are among its members.(123RF)Though t

Industry April 5, 2016

South Korean biosimilar developer Samsung Bioepis has filed a lawsuit against the original maker of the world’s top-selling rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira (adalimumab), to make way for the market debut of its Humira biosimilar.　The Samsung Group affiliate and its partner and minority shareholder Biogen filed a suit in the U.K. on Mar. 24 challenging a number of patents held by U.S. pharmaceuticals giant AbbVie on Humira. It is the U.S. firm’s top-valued drug, having generated sales of $14 bill

Industry April 4, 2016

South Korean biosimilar developer Samsung Bioepis said Saturday that Flixabi, its biosimilar drug referencing Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade (infliximab), has been recommended for approval in the European Union.　The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has adopted a “positive opinion” on Flixabi for the treatment of a number of diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, according to Bioepis.Samsung Bioepis president and C

Industry April 3, 2016

Despite intensifying competition from foreign brands, South Korea’s homegrown coffee franchise Ediya Coffee on Wednesday expressed “high confidence” in its ability to stay ahead of the game, highlighting the exclusive quality of its coffee beans.“Ediya Coffee uses better quality coffee beans than those used by Starbucks,” Ediya Coffee president and CEO Moon Sung-ki told reporters in a press conference in Seoul to mark the company’s 15th anniversary.Whereas Starbucks Korea imports coffee beans ro

Industry March 31, 2016