EnFin, the US-based residential solar financing subsidiary of Hanwha Q Cells, has recently completed the sales of the first asset-backed securities worth $250 million, the Korean energy solution provider said Wednesday. EnFin provides financial solutions to consumers who install solar panels in their homes. The company began its operation in January 2023. According to Hanwha Q Cells, the ABS sales comprise bonds backed by thousands of consumer loans. RBC Capital Markets acted as the sole structu

Artificial intelligence’s impact on the marketing sector will become much greater in the following years, said experts who joined the Digital Marketing Summit 2024. The Digital Marketing Summit is an annual digital marketing conference that invites marketers and experts to share the latest tactics, trends technologies and insights from the industry. The latest summit runs between Tuesday and Wednesday at Coex in Seoul. “AI is going to have such a big impact on us. Technology today is

South Korean builders remain alert against geopolitical risks rising across the Middle East that could throw cold water over their expectations to take a ride on the region's construction boom. Instability in the Middle East, a key market for Korean construction companies overseas, has been sparking concerns over possible setbacks in infrastructure and maintenance projects undertaken by the builders. "Oil-exporting (Middle East) economies are heavily dependent on oil prices, which ar

Starbucks Korea announced Thursday that the company has introduced a faster hiring process that will halve the time to recruit baristas and workers at its branches. “The existing hiring process takes around 50 days to recruit new employees, but the new hiring process will take roughly three weeks,” an official from Starbucks Korea said. According to Starbucks Korea, the new hiring process will be tested at 50 of its branches across the country. The company could extend the adoption o

South Korea’s pharmaceutical companies are accelerating the development of anti-obesity drugs to take share in the rapidly growing market, which is estimated to hit $100 billion by 2030. Hanmi Pharmaceutical is one of a few Korean drug companies that have been pushing ahead with their clinical trials for homegrown anti-obesity drugs. The drug company is currently expected to be the first Korean company that will launch a homegrown anti-obesity drug. “Hanmi Pharmaceutical is the only

Korean logistics companies are boosting their investment in their facilities to cope with the country’s increasing direct purchases from China, industry sources said Tuesday. According to Korea Customs Service, the number of items purchased through Chinese online shopping platforms last year reached 88.8 million, up 70.3 percent on-year. The combined value of those transactions also came to some 3.3 trillion won ($2.43 billion), up 121.2 percent from a year ago. The number of monthly activ

Samsung Life Science Fund, an investment fund created by Samsung affiliates, will invest in Latus Bio, a US gene therapy development company, according to Samsung Bioepis on Friday. It is the sixth investment made by the fund between Samsung Biologics, Samsung C&T and Samsung Bioepis, to explore new business opportunities in the biotechnology sector. The exact amount of investment has not been disclosed. Latus Bio is a US biotech that develops novel gene therapy candidates for disorders of t

Hugel has started its development of new botulinum toxin products using a botulinum toxin type that has a faster onset and shorter duration of effect, the aesthetics firm said Friday. According to Hugel, botulinum neurotoxins that are currently used for therapeutic and cosmetic applications have been botulinum neurotoxin type A and B. The onset of action of botulinum toxin A, which is most widely used for cosmetic applications, ranges from three to seven days, while its therapeutic effect usuall

Celltrion announced Thursday that the company has won public tenders in Peru to provide its autoimmune disease treatment Remsima (infliximab) and anticancer product Herzuma (trastuzumab) to the South American country. According to Celltrion, Remsima has won a tender held by the Peruvian Workers' Insurance System (EsSalud), which is the largest of its kind, accounting for 81 percent of the total infliximab volume in Peru. The company will supply Remsima for a year starting this month. Celltr

LG CNS said Thursday that the company has entered the steel scrap market by setting up a joint venture with local steel firm Daehan Steel. The new entity, called Aimos, will develop a cloud and artificial intelligence-based solution that can sort out scrap steel from metallic waste. “The demand for steel scrap is increasing along with the wider adoption of environment-friendly electric arc furnaces that use steel scrap as its raw material,” an official from LG CNS said. Its new sol

Jeannie Cho Lee, the first Asian Master of Wine, has joined hands with Shinsegae Group, the Korean retail giant that is recently making a big push to lead the nation’s soaring luxury wine market. Lee earned the wine industry’s top honor in 2008. Being a member of the exclusive community of 417 Masters of Wine globally, she has built an extensive network within the industry and collaborated with numerous companies such as Watson’s Wine, Ficofi and Berry Brothers & Rudd. Curr

Korean biosimilar giant Celltrion said Monday that its Zymfentra, the world’s first subcutaneous formulation of infliximab called Remsima SC outside the US, has been included in the preferred formulary of Express Scripts, one of the top three pharmacy benefit managers or PMBs in the US. In the US, PBMs act as negotiating entities in the prescription drug supply chain. Insurers work with PBMs as third-party contractors that manage their prescription drug benefits. PBMs create and update for

South Korea's leading telecom carrier, KT Corp., announced Sunday that the company will introduce new 5G mobile plans for foreign national residents starting Monday. “KT decided to introduce new mobile plans as there are not enough plans specifically for foreigners despite the increasing number of foreign residents in the country,” KT said. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of long-term residents with nationalities other than Korean here grew to 1.9 million as of

LG Chem, South Korea's leading chemical company, unveiled Thursday a new vision to transform into a global top-tier science company, centering on its three business pillars -- electric mobility, sustainable materials and pharmaceuticals. Under the new vision, it has set an ambitious goal of reaching 60 trillion won ($43.6 billion) in sales by 2030. “LG ​​Chem has achieved more than 10 times the sales growth over the past 20 years by diversifying its business portfolio, from battery bu

Samsung Biologics, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization, announced Wednesday that the company’s earnings in the first quarter this year hit an all-time high. In the January-March period, Samsung Biologics’ sales increased by 31.3 percent on-year to 946.9 billion won ($690 million) from the previous year’s 720.9 billion won. Its operating profit also reached 221.3 billion won, up 15 percent on-year. “The operation of the fourth plant has largely co

The popularity of the Orion brand's Turtle Chips continued to grow in the US last year, boosting its annual sales to around 12 billion won ($8.8 million). Orion, a South Korean confectionery and snack manufacturer, is supplying the chips at the snack bars of major firms such as Google and Netflix, the company said Wednesday. According to Orion, the annual sales of Turtle Chips in the US reached 12 billion, around 200 times higher than the figure in 2017 when the company first launched the s

South Korea's housing prices are expected to see a long-term decline starting in 2040, hit by the nation’s falling birth rate and quickly aging society, according to experts who joined a Seoul seminar hosted by construction project management firm Hanmi Global on Tuesday. "In 2025, South Korea will become a superaging society with an over-65 population surpassing 10 million, which will account for more than 20 percent of the country's total population. Due to the aging popul

Posco Group Chairman Chang In-hwa on Monday announced seven major tasks that the steel giant will tackle in the years to come, from consolidating its leadership in steelmaking and battery materials to improving the governance structure. The new missions come after Chang was appointed as the group’s new chairman on March 21. Chang, together with a 20-member task force, came up with the new tasks to enhance Posco’s competitiveness across key business areas. “Through the seven inn

Samsung C&T President Lee Seo-hyun, the younger sister of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, visited Italy on her first business trip after her recent comeback to a management role in the company, according to industry sources, Thursday. Lee reportedly visited Milan to attend Milan Design Week (MDW) 2024, the world's largest design and furniture fair, which attracts more than 2,300 exhibitors and 370,000 visitors from more than 180 countries. Samsung Electronics also participate

South Korea’s Public Procurement Service said Wednesday it is hosting the International Public Procurement Workshop 2024, an international gathering of procurement experts from around the world, this week in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. Under the title of “Gaining New Insight on Public Procurement,” the two-day event will kick off Thursday at the Kintex convention center. This year, the event will be co-hosted with the Inter-American Development Bank or IDB in order for Korea to b