KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo delivers a speech during the investor conference KB Investor Insights 2023, held via the financial giant's metaverse platform on Tuesday. During the event, the chairman pledged to boost investor profitability by upgrading expertise and risk-management know-how. (KB Financial Group)

Amid severe downturn in global chip market, firm reports first quarterly operating loss in decade

South Korea reached a record-high monthly trade deficit of $12.69 billion in January, mainly due to weakening global demand for semiconductors, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday. While outbound shipments fell 16.6 percent on-year to $46.27 billion in January -- the largest drop in three years -- imports slipped 2.6 percent on-year to $58.96 billion. This figure broke the previous record high of $9.43 billion in August last year. It is also

South Korean telecommunications giant KT Corp. announced Wednesday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Monnis Group, a Mongolian industrial holding conglomerate, for a joint business venture into the rare earth minerals industry. This comes after another memorandum previously signed on Jan. 26 between KT and the Mongolian government for the supply of various mineral resources, including rare earth elements. Following this new agreement, KT is now able to utilize Monnis Group&rs

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo delivers a speech during the investor conference KB Investor Insights 2023, held via the financial giant's metaverse platform on Tuesday. During the event, the chairman pledged to boost investor profitability by upgrading expertise and risk-management know-how.

Starbucks Korea, the nation’s No.1 specialty coffee chain, said Wednesday that the cumulative users of its customer membership "Starbucks Rewards" has recently hit the 10 million mark. The figure is twice as high as the 4.1 million members of Twosome Place and the 6 million of Ediya Coffee -- the second and third-largest coffee franchises in Korea by sales. Having started the membership service in September 2011, the company said more than 100 people signed up as Starbucks member

South Korean shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said Wednesday it has won a 609.7 billion-won ($495 million) order to build two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers for an Oceanian shipper. Samsung Heavy said in a regulatory filing that it will deliver the vessels to the undisclosed shipping company by mid-January 2027. So far this year, Samsung Heavy has clinched orders worth some $2 billion, or 21 percent of its 2023 target of $9.5 billion. Early last month, Samsung Heavy obtained a $1.5 bi

Posco Chemical Co., a South Korean manufacturer of industrial materials, said Wednesday it has begun construction of its second factory for synthetic graphite anode materials in the country's southeast. Posco Chemical broke ground on the plant at its key manufacturing complex in Pohang, 272 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Tuesday, the company said in a release. The construction is part of a plan to boost the production capacity of the key anode materials to 18,000 tons a year by the time

SK hynix Inc. said Wednesday it swung to a deficit in the fourth quarter due to the global chip market's slowdown amid weak demand and oversupply. The world's second-largest memory chip maker logged an operating loss of 1.7 trillion won ($1.37 billion) for the three months ending in December, compared with a profit of 4.21 trillion won a year ago. It was the South Korean chipmaker's first quarterly operating loss since the third quarter of 2012. Its net loss came to 3.52 trillion

Daewoo Engineering & Construction has posted an annual operating profit of 760 billion won ($617 million), an all-time high in the company’s history. Daewoo E&C’s operating profit in 2022 was up 2.9 percent from the previous year’s 738.3 billion won, according to a regulatory filing released Tuesday. Annual sales last year reached 10.4 trillion won, up 20 percent from 8.6 trillion won in 2021. The construction company also reported that its 2022 net profit reached 508 b

Posco Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo met with Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan on Monday to discuss their cooperation on hydrogen and secondary battery materials businesses, the company said Tuesday. Posco “needs an intimate collaboration with Australia on hydrogen and secondary battery materials sectors,” Choi said during his meeting with McGowan at Posco Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. During the meeting, Choi and McGowan shared their development status and business strategies re

The US State of Georgia said Tuesday SK Battery America, a production subsidiary of South Korean battery giant SK On, has exceeded its hiring goal two years earlier than the initial schedule to fill jobs at its manufacturing facilities for electric vehicle batteries in the city of Commerce, Jackson County. The state government said the company had achieved its goal of 2,600 employees as of the end of 2022, with plans to expand the workforce to some 3,000 this year. Since launching its EV batte

Hyundai Mobis, a car parts maker under Hyundai Motor Group, announced Tuesday that it received a record-breaking $4.7 billion of orders from global automakers last year. This is the company’s greatest feat since it first entered the international automotive parts market in the early 2000s. The company surpassed its initial goal of $3.8 billion by 25 percent and achieved a near-double increase compared to 2021 earnings, which were valued at $2.5 billion. Overseas orders do not include those

Posco International, a subsidiary of steel giant Posco, on Tuesday held a ground-breaking ceremony for its second liquefied natural gas terminal in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province. The company said the construction will accelerate its vision to become an eco-friendly company by strengthening its energy value chain. The company plans to invest 930 billion won ($757 million) to build two 200,000-kiloliter LNG storage tanks on the site by 2025 to power Posco’s steel mills and other power gen

World's No. 1 memory chipmaker posts 69% plunge in operationg profits in Q4