Industry

  • Samsung Biologics completes $353 mln Maryland, US plant acquisition
    Samsung Biologics completes $353 mln Maryland, US plant acquisition SEOUL, April 01 (AJP) -Samsung Biologics, South Korea’s leading contract drug manufacturer, has completed its acquisition of a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland, marking its first production base in the United States to better access the world’s largest drug market and mitigate tariff risks. The company said in a press release on Wednesday its wholly owned unit Samsung Biologics America acquired Human Genome Sciences from GSK for $353.1 mill April 1, 2026
  • South Koreas March exports hit $80b mark
    South Korea's March exports hit $80b mark SEOUL, April 1 (AJP) — South Korea raised the bar on exports again, achieving fresh monthly high of over $80 billion in March as an unprecedented boom in the semiconductor sector more than offset supply disruptions from the outbreak of a war in the Middle East. According to data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday, exports for March reached all-time monthly high of $86.13 billion, up 48.3 percent on year. The previous monthly record was $69.5 April 1, 2026
  • Samsung Elec union crying foul over wage talks to press ahead with strikes
    Samsung Elec union crying foul over wage talks to press ahead with strikes SEOUL, March 31 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics claims it has put forward a compensation package more attractive than that of rival SK hynix, but its largest labor union is calling it a deception — and is pressing ahead with plans for a general strike in May. “The company lied to us,” Kim Jae-won, head of policy planning at the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), told AJP on Tuesday. “There is no other way to describe what happened at that table.” March 31, 2026
  • Submarine deal looms large over Canadas high-profile trade mission to Korea
    Submarine deal looms large over Canada's high-profile trade mission to Korea SEOUL, March 31 (AJP) - Canada’s trade delegation to South Korea this week has been heavily layered with the hot-button deal — Canada’s largest-ever defense procurement to replace its aging submarines, worth an estimated $40 billion, now being weighed between Korean and European bidders. The visit by the Team Canada Trade Mission, led by International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu, comes as Ottawa moves to diversify trade and deepen ties with trusted partners, with March 31, 2026
  • Hanwha joins US Navy project as subcontractor for logistics ship
    Hanwha joins US Navy project as subcontractor for logistics ship SEOUL, March 31 (AJP) - Hanwha Group is participating in a U.S. Navy project as a subcontractor, the South Korean defense giant said on Tuesday. Hanwha Ocean's Philly Shipyard and Hanwha Defense USA said they will work with Vard Marine, a naval architecture and marine engineering company fully owned by Italian Fincantieri Group, to take part in the project for the U.S. Navy's next-generation logistics support ship or NGLS. It is the first time a South Korean firm is carry March 31, 2026
  • Koreas Feb factory output gain strongest in 6 yrs, record construction recovery
    Korea's Feb factory output gain strongest in 6 yrs, record construction recovery *Updated with additional information and market response SEOUL, March 31 (AJP) -Before the sudden war in the Middle East, South Korea’s industrial front had shown a sanguine face, with manufacturing posting its strongest growth in nearly six years, facility investment surging to a more than decade high and construction activity hitting a record, data showed Tuesday. Mining and manufacturing output rose 5.4 percent from a month earlier, sharply reversing a 2.4 percent drop March 31, 2026
  • HMM pushes ahead with move to Busan despite union protest
    HMM pushes ahead with move to Busan despite union protest SEOUL, March 30 (AJP) - South Korea's largest container shipping line HMM reportedly said its board of directors approved a charter amendment to relocate the company's headquarters from Seoul to the southeastern port city of Busan, setting the stage for a shareholder vote on May 8 that is all but certain to pass. The board convened an extraordinary session to endorse the revision to Article 3 of HMM's articles of incorporation, which currently designates Seoul as the reg March 30, 2026
  • POSCO Holdings named Business of the Year at 2026 Australia–Korea Business Awards
    POSCO Holdings named Business of the Year at 2026 Australia–Korea Business Awards SEOUL, March 30 (AJP) - POSCO Holdings was named Business of the Year at the 2026 Australia–Korea Business Awards (AKBA) in Seoul on Friday, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AustCham Korea). This year’s recognition of POSCO Holdings highlights the company’s long-standing investment in Australia’s resources sector and its growing role in future-facing industries shaping the bilateral partnership, including critical minerals, battery ma March 30, 2026
  • Union-proof Samsung faces twin labor flare-ups as Biologics joins chip unit unrest
    Union-proof Samsung faces twin labor flare-ups as Biologics joins chip unit unrest SEOUL, March 30 (AJP) -Samsung Group, long seen as union-proof, is facing back-to-back labor unrest as its biopharmaceutical arm Samsung Biologics moved toward its first-ever strike, joining a parallel standoff at Samsung Electronics. The union at Samsung Biologics secured strike authorization with overwhelming support, marking the first such move since the company’s founding in 2011. About 95.5 percent of 3,678 eligible voters backed industrial action after months of stall March 30, 2026
  • Fuel prices near 1,900 won in Seoul as price cap raised
    Fuel prices near 1,900 won in Seoul as price cap raised SEOUL, March 28 (AJP) - Fuel prices at gas stations across South Korea continued to rise for a second consecutive day after the government raised oil price caps. According to Opinet, the state-run fuel price information system, the nationwide average price of gasoline stood at 1,849.7 won ($1.23) per liter as of 9 a.m. on Saturday, up 10.9 won from the previous day. Diesel prices also climbed 9.6 won to 1,844.1 won per liter, extending the upward trend in fuel costs. The increase March 28, 2026