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KOREA REPORT - OCTOBER, 2021.
TOPICS.
SKorea
on 23rd achieved its goal of fully inoculating over 70% of the country¡®s 51.3
mil population, earlier than scheduled amid its
accelerating vaccination drive. Total of 35.94 mil people have received their
both shots of COVID-19 vaccines as of 2 pm. The scheme, dubbed ¡°Living with
COVID-19,¡± is set to take effect in early Nov. It means that COVID-19 will be
treated as an infectious respiratory disease, like seasonal influenza, with
eased social distancing being implemented. Authorities expect vaccinations will
further pick up to get 85% of all SKoreans and foreigners living in SKorea
fully inoculated by early next year, which is expected to create the so-called
herd immunity.
Communication
between South Korea and the North was restored on 4th about two months after Pyongyang unilaterally cut off contact in
Aug, due to Pyongyang's protest of joint military drill by SKorea and the US.
Their reactivation came days after NKorean leader Kim Jong-un expressed an
intention to improve chilled inter-Korean relations. Liaison officials from
both Koreas held two phone calls via cross-border channel, Unification Ministry
said. Two sides agreed to hold regular phone calls twice a day as they had in
the past. Defense Ministry also said both direct military
communication lines, western and eastern hotlines, had been reactivated.
Fitch
Ratings said on 20th that it would maintain SKorea¡¯s stable credit rating at
AA- and keep its economic growth projection positive, citing the
country¡¯s economic resilience. It has remained at that level since 2012. International Monetary Fund maintained its
forecast for SKorea¡¯s economic growth for this year at 4.3%, while revising
down its projection for the global economy to 5.9%, Ministry of Economy and
Finance said on 12th. Hana Institute of
Finance predicted on 7th that SKorea¡¯s economy to expand 2.8% in 2022, down from this
year's growth estimate of 3.9%, expecting to post solid growth
on strong domestic demand stemming from looser social distancing measures. Bank
of Korea forecast Korean economy will grow 4% this year. The government
expected economic growth of 4.2% for 2021.
Samsung
Electronics was ranked fifth among world¡¯s top 100 corporate brands for second
year in a row, according to Interbrand on 21st, with
brand value estimated at $74.6 bil this year, increasing 20% on-year. SEC first
entered top 10 of Interbrand¡¯s list in 2012, ranking ninth. It reached sixth
place in 2017 and fifth last year. Taking top four spots were Apple, which
topped the list, followed by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Hyundai Motor¡¯s
brand value was 35th highest with $15.2 bil, and sixth among world¡¯s
automakers. Kia Motors ranked 86th with brand value of $6.1 bil.
Korea
Gas plans to push ahead with four new businesses using liquefied natural gas. The worldwide demand for LNG bunkering, or providing LNG to a
ship for its own consumption, is expected to reach between 20 mil and 30 mil
tons by 2030. LNG bunkering is mostly done from ship to ship, and it requires
LNG storage facilities and loading equipment. Kogas already has world¡¯s largest
LNG storage facility and four LNG loading equipment in Tongyeong. By securing
more LNG bunkering vessels and loading equipment, Kogas seeks to make SKorea a
Northeast Asian hub for LNG bunkering. By 2030, Kogas also plans to build
30 charging stations that use natural gas to produce hydrogen on site, and can
charge hydrogen buses and trucks that need more hydrogen than passenger cars.
In addition to securing LNG, Kogas plans to generate power from it and supply
the power at competitive prices. In early Oct, a consortium of Kogas, Korea
Southern Power Co and Hanwha Energy won an order to build a 6,000-megatwatt LNG
power plant in Quang Tri, Vietnam. Kogas is also taking steps to utilize cold
energy generated when LNG vaporizes between minus 162 degrees Celsius and zero
for cold chains to keep food and vaccines at low temperatures.
The new order
intakes of Korean 'Big3' was maintained at strong level for first three
quarters of 2021. Three affiliates of HHI Group HHI, HSHI and HMD won new
orders worth $18.107 bil, representing 333.6% on-year increase. SHI was awarded
64 newbuilds worth $8.6 bil, achieving 78% of its yearly order target of $9.1
bil. DSME won 46 newbuilds worth $8.04 bil, exceeding its 2021 order target
$7.7 bil by 4.4%.
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