Taiwan’s TSMC, the No. 1 global foundry company, is reportedly planning to charge up to 30 percent more for semiconductors manufactured in the United States than those made in Taiwan. It remains to be seen if the prices of Samsung Electronics’ chips will be affected by this move.TSMC will reportedly
The existing paradigm that a depreciation of the won leads to more exports from South Korea is not working any longer.The KRW-USD exchange rate rose 5.4 won to 1,328.2 won on April 21 and rose by more than 100 won from 1,220.3 won, this year’s low, from Feb. 2 to April 21. However, South Korea’s tra
Details on the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act are scheduled to be announced this month. The details are likely to include a 10-year ban on investment in China to be applied to semiconductor companies supported by the U.S. government. This is likely to affect both Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which
South Korea’s monthly trade deficit hit an all-time high of US$12.7 billion last month. Its semiconductor exports dropped 44.5 percent from a year ago to US$6 billion, the highest rate of decrease in 14 years or so.Last month, South Korea’s petrochemical, general machinery and steel exports decrease
South Korean solar power companies are expected to have shown their best performances last year. They are increasing investment in North America with regard to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and their tax incentives related to it are expected to increase.According to FnGuide, the solar power arm o
The Korea Financial Investment Association announced on Jan. 18 that the 91-day CD rate fell four basis points to 3.7 percent that day, the lowest since Oct. 17 last year. Likewise, the 91-day CP rate fell three basis points to 4.8 percent, the lowest since Nov. 2. In short, the short-term money mar
SK Hynix has successfully issued U.S. dollar-denominated bonds worth US$2.5 billion, including the memory semiconductor industry's first sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) worth US$1 billion.The company conducted demand forecasting on Jan. 10 regarding the bond issuance. Orders totaled US$15.4 b
POSCO successfully issued bonds abroad to attract an investment of US$2 billion. The U.S. dollar-denominated bonds, which were issued on Jan. 9, consist of US$0.7 billion of three-year, US$1 billion of five-year and US$0.3 billion of 10-year.The Fed raised rates by 50 basis points on Dec. 15. The bo
The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) has successfully issued foreign currency bonds worth US$3.5 billion, the largest amount it has ever raised.The bank raised US$1 billion by selling three-year bonds, US$1.5 billion with five-year bonds and US$1 billion with 10-year bonds.Korea Eximbank
AIA Group announced on Jan. 6 that Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur striker and England captain, has been appointed as an AIA Ambassador. This ambassadorship builds on the 10-year association with Harry through AIA’s partnership with Tottenham Hotspur.Both AIA and Harry share a desire to address mental
Ultium Cells, an electric vehicle battery joint venture between LG Energy Solution and GM, has secured a US$2.5 billion loan from the U.S. government, the Korean battery maker announced on Dec. 13.Ultium Cells signed a policy loan agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Dec. 12 (U.S. l
SK Telecom conducted demand forecasting on Dec. 6 in order to issue 250 billion won of corporate bonds. The final demand is more than 1.9 trillion won. Its 10-year bond issuance target is 20 billion won and the final demand for the bond is 150 billion won or so.A recovery in investor sentiment is be
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. The year 2022 has been tough for Korean Internet and game companies. However, we forecast that these stocks will attempt a rebound going forward. Expecting a return of more reasonable consumption
Individual investors are increasing their bond investment with stock markets remaining uncertain. Samsung Securities announced on Nov. 23 that its individual customers’ online bond purchase totaled 2.3 trillion won from Jan. 1 to Nov. 11 whereas the 2021 total is about 200 billion won. “More than 55
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at pk.park@nhqv.co. -- Ed. In 2022, healthcare stocks have been performing sluggishly in the NY stock market, affected by drastic absorption of market liquidity since early-2022. Given that 10-yr discounted cash flow is the mo
The Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations recently said that the daily coffee consumption and monthly coffee cost of 70 percent of South Korean adults are at least one cup and 103,978 won on average, respectively. In its survey, 12.2 percent of respondents said they have coffee five to si
Liquidity supply from the South Korean government stabilized the domestic bond market to some extent on Oct. 24, when the three-year government bond yield fell 0.19 percentage point to close at 4.305 percent and 10-year fell 0.129 percentage point to close at 4.503 percent.Likewise, five-, two-, 20-
The Bank of Korea purchased three trillion won of government bonds on Sept. 29. This is because yields are rapidly rising along with global financial market uncertainties. The Ministry of Economy and Finance also buys back two trillion won of government bonds on Sept. 30.The yields are rising as the
The Fed’s interest rate policy jolted South Korean financial markets again. On Sept. 22, the won-dollar exchange rate surged from 1,394.2 won to 1,409.7 won to top 1,400 won for the first time since March 20, 2009. This is the third time in history that the rate topped that level.The exchange rate m
The U.S. taper tantrum is affecting South Korean financial markets again. The Korean won-U.S. dollar exchange rate closed at 1,390.9 won on Sept. 14, up 17.3 won from the previous day and the highest since March 30, 2009. The opening exchange rate was 1,393 won and the rate touched 1,395.5 won durin