Financially troubled Hanjin Shipping is struggling to come up with a self-rescue plan that meets the expectations of its creditors, amid growing concerns over a possible court receivership. Korea’s largest shipping company was asked by its creditors to submit a rescue plan by Thursday, the second deadline after the company failed to meet the first deadline of Saturday. A Hanjin Shipping-owned ship carries containers. (Hanjin Shipping)This is projected to be the last call as the company is slated

The state-run Korea National Oil Corp. has decided to give up on an oil field development project in Iraq after years of investment, due to low profitability, the company said Tuesday. The Korean state firm will pull out of the Sangaw South oil field project in the Kurdish region of Iraq. It has injected about $204 million into the project for eight years. “Members of the board have decided to shut down the oil project in Iraq, as they realized that it holds little profitability after running a

Hyundai Engineering and Construction is providing various programs for its partner companies to promote closer ties and support their overseas businesses.The Korean builder has annually offered overseas site visit programs for top 20 partner firms since 2012 to help them pave new business paths in the foreign market. Earlier in May, Hyundai E&C and the partner company workers visited construction sites in Indonesia and Singapore.  Employees of Hyundai E&C’s partner companies pose for a photo dur

Five Korean coal-fired power plants operated by a state-run company have seen a sharp rise in their profitability amid the weeks-long heatwave, data showed Monday. According to the Financial Supervisory Service and power industry sources, the five coal-powered plants run by Korea Electronic Power Corp. recorded profit rates – operating profit as a proportion of total sales -- of about 15 percent to 22.5 percent from January to June this year. Korea East-West Power saw the highest increase to 22.

State-run Korea Gas Corp. said Monday that it would place an order for two gas transport ships to local shipbuilders as part of the moves to support the ailing industry. The company said it moved up the order date from late next year to early next year for two LNG carriers, considering the circumstances of the Korean shipbuilding industry. Building the carriers with the size of 3,500 tons will each cost about 150 billion won ($133 million), the company said. Korea Gas Corp also vowed to ask for

Hanwha Group’s business interests span the gamut, from hotels to a professional baseball team, but five form the core – defense, petrochemicals, solar energy, finance and retail. In the first three, the conglomerate is the local market leader.  Maywood Solar Farm constructed by Hanwha Q Cells in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Hanwha Q Cells)Having achieved economies of scale and scope in the fields through mergers and acquisitions, Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn now looks to sharpen its competiti

As a latecomer to the global additive manufacturing industry, South Korea is striving to boost technology and cultivate expertise in the market, despite lack of human resources and investment. According to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, the local additive manufacturing industry was worth 59 billion won ($54 million) in 2014 and 82 billion won in 2015. This year, it is expected to exceed 116 billion won.  Neurosurgeon Kwon Jeong-taik performs a surgery to transplant a

A number of Korea Electric Power Corp.’s investment corporations in foreign countries were found to have suffered deficits, a report showed Thursday.According to corporate tracker Chaebul.com’s data, 30 out of 51 overseas investment corporations recorded business losses last year, making up 60 percent of the total.  (Yonhap)Total assets of the 51 investment corporations stood at 28.9 trillion won ($26.2 billion), while net profit was 234 billion won last year, accounting for 0.8 percent of total

Korean nuclear power plants are constructed to be safe from earthquakes, the state-run electric power company said, amid concerns over the safety of such facilities after an earthquake here last month. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. said all nuclear power plants including those in Wolseong and Gori were designed to be earthquake-resistant even if earthquakes of over magnitude 6.5 hit the plants. Construction is underway on the foundation rock where the nuclear reactor of the nuclear power pla

Korea’s state-run power company collected nearly 900 billion won ($823 million) in August last year from household users, 1.5 times more than the monthly average charged for electricity use in spring and fall, data showed Wednesday. According to the Korea Electric Power Corp, the company charged 885 billion won for household users, nearly 60 percent higher than bills levied in October worth 556 billion.A salesperson introduces air conditioners to a customer at a store in Seoul. (Yonhap)In contra

More and more Korean oil refiners are eyeing the lube base oil business as a potential cash cow, despite its current small proportion of the entire business. “The lube base oil business has recently been a cash cow as the high value added market expanded globally. (The production of the lube base oil) is also nearly limited to oil refiners as it is made from by-products of refined oils,” said an official from SK Innovation. The firm became the world’s first to start commercial mass production of

Korean steelmakers will not suffer a direct impact from the U.S.’ antidumping tariffs, local analysts said Monday. The U.S Department of Commerce on Friday made a decision to impose nearly 60 percent of antidumping duties on hot-rolled flat steel exported by Korean companies. Korea’s largest steelmaker POSCO, which is also the country’s No. 1 steel exporter to the U.S., received a total of 57.04 percent in duties, including the subsidy rate and the dumping margin.Hyundai Steel received 13.38 per

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering is going all out to secure cash amid growing concerns over a possible liquidity crisis and a widening probe into accounting fraud. The shipbuilder, currently under a creditor-led corporate rehab, plans to submit later this week a detailed plan to secure funds to its creditors. According to local reports, the plan may include an earlier than scheduled spinoff and initial public offering of its special-purpose ship business. The shipbuilder had initially

Korea’s second-largest shipper Hyundai Merchant Marine will be off to a fresh start as a subsidiary of the Korea Development Bank, ending the 40-year-long ties with conglomerate Hyundai Group after struggling the restructuring plan. Having the largest shareholder change from Hyundai Group to the state-run policy bank, the shipper will list the new stocks on Friday, after wrapping up the months-long restructuring plans. Last month, Hyundai Group lost control over the shipper as the shareholders a

POSCO Daewoo, a subsidiary of steelmaker POSCO, will supply materials and equipment worth $150 million to a state-run Indonesian dockyard to build large vessels, the company said Thursday. POSCO Daewoo and Indonesia’s largest state-run shipyard PT Penataran Angkatan Laut inked a memorandum of understanding Wednesday over providing equipment needed for building 10 patrol ships and one logistics support ship. The 11 ships will be taken over by the Indonesian government once they are built. Since 2

Hyundai Oilbank, one of Korea’s major oil refiners, said Wednesday that the company had recorded more than 7 million man-hours of accident-free work since late October in 2013 -- equivalent to 1,007 days of operation. This is the first time that a Korean oil refiner has surpassed 1,000 days without accident. Hyundai Oilbank‘s previous record was in 1989, when it succeeded in making 810 accident-free days. “Over 1,000 days of accident-free work is the fruitful result made by employees who thoroug

Korea’s major industries are projected to contract in the second half of this year, a report showed Wednesday. According to the state-invested Korea Development Bank, the amount of orders that local shipbuilders receive will plummet by 88.2 percent in the second half of this year. In the first half, they fell by 94.6 percent on-year. The bank also forecast that construction firms’ orders will shrink by 7.4 percent this year, with a decline both locally and overseas.The display industry is also a

Korea’s top 10 conglomerates were found to make up more than half of the nation‘s total stock market value, a report showed Wednesday. According to corporate tracker CEO Score, the market capitalization of 181 listed companies owned by 10 top conglomerates recorded 778.5 trillion won ($698 billion) as of late last month, with 416 family members owning 70 trillion won. The entire listed companies under the 10 top groups accounted for 51.2 percent of the total market price of the Korean stock mark

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering is to receive $470 million from four ship owners earlier than expected, easing concerns about the liquidity of the money-losing shipbuilder, industry sources said Tuesday. The plan was disclosed ahead of the upcoming expiry of its corporate bill, according to the sources. The Korean shipbuilder said that the four ship owners agreed to make payments earlier than expected and they are expected to do so no later than next month. Another client company that

Speculation is growing that the takeover problem of the Sonangol project is expected to be clear no later than this week, determining whether Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering will be able to receive the scheduled contract fee, sources said Monday. In October 2013, Angola’s state-run oil company Sonangol placed an order for two drill ships with the Korean shipbuilder with $1.2 billion. Sonangol initially agreed to pay 80 percent of the contract fee -- $990 million --when it takes over t