SEOUL, Mar. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s midsized shipbuilder Sungdong Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. will file for a court receivership, Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said Thursday. Another troubled shipbuilder, STX Shipbuilding Co., will face intense restructuring efforts to overhaul its operations, Kim told a meeting of relevant ministers. The two shipbuilders have been [...]
SEOUL, March 7 (Korea Bizwire) – The chief of Kumho Tire Co. said Wednesday that foreign acquisition of the financially troubled tiremaker is essential for its survival at this juncture despite objections raised by union workers. In a message sent to employees, Kumho Tire Chairman and Chief Executive Kim Jong-ho said the company “has no [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The latest protectionist trade policies being pursued by U.S. President Donald Trump should not pose immediate problems for South Korean chipmakers, industry watchers here said Tuesday, although companies need to be prepared for unexpected developments. “As (memory chips) are intermediary goods, it is unlikely that (the chip industry) will [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s display firms, which enjoyed record-breaking earnings in 2017, are expected to face bumpy roads during the first half of this year amid weakening global prices for liquid-crystal display (LCD) products, analysts said Tuesday. Industry sources said Samsung Display Co. is set to post weak earnings for the [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. said Sunday it will use robots to build ships for the first time in the industry to improve efficiency and cut costs. The world’s largest shipbuilder has recently completed a year of testing of a robotic system that automatically shapes a vessel’s 3-D curved surface [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of vehicles made at GM Korea’s plant in the southern city of Changwon have plunged 40 percent over the last four years, industry data showed Monday, casting doubt on its future viability. GM Korea’s Changwon plant produces the Spark city car, and Damas and Labo small commercial vehicles. [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Local battery makers are rushing to secure a steady supply of cobalt through import diversification and company mergers as the price of the raw material keeps rising, industry sources said Thursday. The international price of cobalt, a core component of batteries used in smartphones and electric vehicles, jumped to [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Samsung C&T Corp., the construction unit of Samsung Group, said Wednesday it hired a former General Electric Co.’s productivity expert as an outside director to enhance shareholders’ value by improving the governance structure. Philippe Cochet, 58, who served as chief productivity officer at GE, the United States’ largest industrial conglomerate, is expected to [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Concerns are growing in the manufacturing industry after a parliamentary committee passed a bill slashing legal working hour limits. According to sources close to the manufacturing industry on Tuesday, production of seasonal electronics such as air conditioners is expected to be affected by the government’s decision to shorten legal weekly [...]
SEJONG, Feb. 26 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will decide whether to provide tax benefits for General Motors Co.’s Korean unit after looking into its new investment plans, including the allocation of new models for production, a senior government official said Monday. GM plans to close its underutilized Gunsan factory in the country’s southwest by May, saying it will decide the fate of its three other Korean factories after [...]