SEJONG -- Big Korean businesses saw their inventory surge by about 50 percent in the first half on-year, sparking concerns that the piling products left unsold is maybe a sign that South Korea is entering a fog of economic uncertainty. According to the corporate research institute Leaders Index, the inventory assets held by 192 conglomerates came to 147.6 trillion won ($110 billion) in the first half of the year, a 49.6 percent increase from 98.6 trillion won in the first half of 2021. While b

GS Retail Co. said Thursday it will close all of its lalavla shops, 17 years after it entered the health and beauty (H&B) store market, due to slumping sales amid the coronavirus pandemic and fierce competition. GS Retail will stop operating its lalavla online shops in September and close down all offline stores of the brand by the end of November, the company said. "GS Retail decided to end our health and beauty store business to focus resources and efforts on our convenience stores and qu

Six Korean energy companies will join hands with Malaysia’s state-run energy company, Petroliam Nasional Berhad, to launch a cross-border project that transports carbon captured in South Korea to Malaysia for storage, the firms said Wednesday. For the project named Shepherd CCS, the six companies, SK Energy, SK Earthon, Samsung Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries, Lotte Chemical and GS Energy, signed a memorandum of understanding with Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as Petron

Samsung Engineering Co. and five other South Korean companies have teamed up with Malaysia's state energy company Petroliam Nasional Berhad to work on a project to capture, transport and store carbon dioxide, an emerging technology for emissions reduction. Under a memorandum of understanding signed in a virtual meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, the companies said they plan to carry out a feasibility study to assess the practicality of the project. The five South Korean companies are SK En

GS Entec -- South Korean equipment and facilities manufacturer of chemical and energy plants -- has signed a strategic partnership with Sif Netherlands BV to enter the offshore wind power business, the company said Sunday. GS Entec will introduce the Dutch firm’s monopile manufacturing technology under the partnership, according to the company. A monopile is a steel tube foundation that serves as a supporting pillar in the water. Monopiles are most commonly used for offshore wind turbi

LG Chem and GS Caltex on Thursday held a ground-breaking ceremony at GS Caltex Yeosu plant for its new bio-material demonstration plant, which would contribute to building a white ecosystem, officials said. The demo plant at GS Caltex‘s Yeosu complex will mainly produce 3-Hydroxypropionic acid prototypes, key raw material in the production of biodegradable plastics. The construction is set to be finished by 2023, after which both companies will produce various 3HP prototypes to accelera

Despite the pandemic-triggered e-commerce boom, some South Korean retailers have begun shutting down early-morning deliveries, saying that the cutthroat competition for early bird customers has led to increased operating costs. GS Fresh Mall, an online shopping mall under GS Retail Group, said Wednesday it plans to suspend its early-morning delivery service starting July 31. The company said it has decided to stop the service because of the large cost of additional payrolls for couriers, and

The exports of petroleum products by major refiners in South Korea hit a record high of $27.95 billion in the first half of this year on the back of higher oil prices and strong demand recovery amid eased COVID-19 restrictions, data showed Tuesday. The outbound shipments by SK Energy Co., GS Caltex Corp., S-Oil Corp. and Hyundai Oilbank Co. represent a 97.6 percent increase from a year earlier and surpassed the previous record high of $27.7 billion in 2012, according to a latest report by the Ko

GS Engineering and Construction said Monday it has released its annual sustainability report for 2022, introducing its environmental, social and corporate governance-related activities. In the report, the South Korean builder said it had launched its Research Institute for Future Technology in March. Through its continued investment in future technology, GS E&C said it had developed water saving, biogas facility modulation, carbon dioxide to hydrogen conversion, and eco-friendly water desal

GS Energy, an energy arm of South Korean conglomerate GS Group, said Wednesday it has renamed its electric vehicle charging subsidiary as GS Connect. The subsidiary is a joint corporation, created by GS Energy and local EV charging firm Gntel. The two companies hold 50 percent of shares each. By stressing its identity as being part of GS Group, the subsidiary said it hopes to expand business and bolster customer trust. The name change also includes the company’s promise to connect with

A 2.4 trillion won ($1.86 billion) seawater desalination project in Oman overseen by GS Engineering & Construction subsidiary GS Inima has kicked off, officials said Monday. GS Engineering & Construction has signed financing documents for GS Inima’s project to build a Barka 5 Independent Water Plant in Oman, a deal reached with Oman Power & Water Procurement Co. in 2020, the company said. Of the $130 million that will be needed for building the plant, GS E&C will be procu

The IB Korea, a beer and liquor importer, recently participated in the Air House Festival, a music fair held in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, for three days starting June 10. At the event, the IB Korea met with young customers in their 20s, introducing its newly launched cocktail products, Uptown Margarita and Uptown Pina Colada. The two new products are brands from Texas-based distillery and winery Southern Champion. The Uptown Margarita is an agave wine-based cocktail, while the Uptown Pina

The engineering and construction division of Samsung C&T Corporation is aggressively entering the eco-friendly energy businesses such as small modular reactors, or SMRs, green hydrogen and ammonia. The Engineering & Construction Division of Samsung C&T recently invested $70 million in NuScale Power, an American SMR company, laying a stepping stone for its SMR business overseas. SMRs are safer compared to conventional nuclear reactors, emits nearly zero carbon, and guarantees a stab

LG Electronics said Sunday it is making its foray into the burgeoning electric vehicle charging market, calling the sector one of its key growth drivers for its next big leap. As part of the big push, the firm said it has acquired a 60 percent stake in AppleMango, a local battery maker, in partnership with GS Energy and GS Neotek that took over 34 percent and 6 percent in the company, respectively. Following the deal, AppleMango has become a subsidiary of LG Electronics. Through the new su

South Korea’s energy-to-retail conglomerate GS Group said Wednesday that it has published its first environmental, social and governance report which contains three key execution plans under a slogan of “Grow Sustainably, GS.” The company said the slogan illustrates the firm’s willingness to make long-term growth which is flexible to social changes in terms of its sustainability execution plans. The plan seeks to reduce, improve and innovate rather than chasing after ef