Author: ASEAN Tribune

South Korea’s exports of farm and fisheries products had marked a slight on-year growth this year as of mid-September on the solid global demand for instant noodles and other food items in line with the popularity of Korean culture, the agriculture ministry said Monday.

Outbound shipments of agricultural and fisheries goods came to US$6.31 billion from January through the second week of September, up 0.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Global sales of those products logged an on-year fall during the first eight months of 2023, as last year’s tally hit an all-time high, but made a rebound this month.

By item, sales of instant noodles, or “ramyeon” in Korean, jumped 23.5 percent on-year to $657 million, and those of beverages rose 9 percent to $422 million.

Rice-based food items, such as gimbap, or seaweed rice rolls with vegetables, enjoyed a 16.2 percent sales growth to $145 million, and exports of Kimchi rose 9.9 percent to $113 million.

E
xports of strawberries and pears also jumped 26.9 percent and 18.1 percent, respectively, the data showed.

“Korean food items are becoming famous on the back of the popularity of Korean movies, dramas and music. More people have also turned to ready-to-eat food products after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic,” a ministry official said.

By destination, exports to China grew 11.3 percent on-year to $977 million, and those to the United States rose 3.8 percent to $910 million. Sales in the European Union and Britain increased 1.2 percent, according to the ministry.

The government vowed to extend support for exporters in advancing into new markets and better ensuring the quality of fresh food items.

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Source: Yonhap News Agency

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) policy-making Monetary Board (MB) has disqualified a Tagaytay-based foreign exchange company for operating unregistered.In a statement on Monday, the central bank identified the erring player as Riyben Foreign Exchange, which has a branch at Olivarez Plaza, San Jose in Tagaytay City, Cavite.It said the money exchange entity ‘and any sole proprietorship owned and/or controlled by the owner/operator’ is now disqualified to register with the central bank ‘and/or obtaining a license with the BSP to engage in any activity that is authorized or supervised by the BSP, for operating as MSB (money service business) without prior BSP registration.”The above disqualification is pursuant to Section 901-N of the BSP’s Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions, and is part of the BSP’s efforts to address the proliferation of entities engaged in the operation of unauthorized MSBs,’ it added.Sec.901-N of the MORNBFI discusses regulations specifically for MSBs, which inclu
de remittance and transfer companies (RTC), money changers (MC) and foreign exchange dealers (FXD).Aside from prior BSP registration, MSBs are also required to register with the Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretary (AMLCS) within 30 calendar days from the actual start of their operation.’Failure to register shall result in the automatic cancellation of the Bangko Sentral registration as RTC/MC/FXD,’ it added.

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Source: Philippines News Agency

The higher buying price for palay offered by the National Food Authority (NFA) serves as a benchmark for commercial rice traders, making it advantageous to farmers.Epifanio Cosca, NFA Iloilo-Antique branch manager, said during a virtual press conference on Monday that commercial rice traders have to scale up their prices because they need to procure their stocks.The NFA procures a kilogram of wet palay at PHP16 to PHP19, and PHP19 to PHP23 for clean and dry.’The NFA new pricing as announced by President Ferdinand E. Marcos Jr. is really advantageous to the farmers,’ he said.President Marcos announced the new buying price after meeting with the NFA Council on Sept. 18, 2023 in support of Executive Order (EO) 39 setting the price cap for regular milled rice (RMR) at PHP41 per kilogram and for well-milled rice (WMR) at PHP45 per kilo.The Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) said commercial traders procure wet palay at PHP14 to PHP15 per kilogram and PHP22 for dry.Cosca said the NFA targets to buy an init
ial 93,000 bags of palay in Antique, which is now in its peak harvest season.From Jan. 1 until Sept. 25 this year, the NFA has already procured 23,000 bags of palay, but it is optimistic it could buy more this peak season from September until November.’We encourage farmers to sell their palay to the NFA buying stations in Antique,’ Cosca said.The NFA has buying stations in its warehouses in San Jose de Buenavista and Culasi towns.He added that in addition to the higher buying price, farmers help ensure enough buffer stock for use during calamities when they choose to sell their produce to the NFA

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Source: Philippines News Agency

South Korean stocks opened lower Monday on concerns about the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary tightening for a longer-than-expected period.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 9.31 points, or 0.37 percent, to 2,498.82 in the first 15 minutes of trading.

The U.S. central bank last week signaled it could hike interest rates again this year while keeping the rates unchanged.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched down 0.09 percent.

In Seoul, most top-cap shares opened lower.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics lost 0.15 percent, and chip giant SK hynix retreated 1.02 percent,

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution lost 0.92 percent, and POSCO Holdings sank 2.46 percent. LG Chem decreased 0.39 percent.

Carmakers also opened lower. Top automaker Hyundai Motor went down 0.78 percent, and Kia shed 0.12 percent.

The local currency was trading at 1,334.60 won against the U.S. dollar at 9:15 a.m., up 2.2 won from the
previous session’s close.

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Source: Yonhap News Agency

U.S. wireless chipmaker Broadcom Inc. said Monday it plans to seek an appeal against the South Korean regulator’s decision to slap a 19.1 billion-won (US$14.3 million) fine for its unfair business practices against Samsung Electronics Co.

In a statement, Broadcom said it expresses “regret” over the Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) decision, noting it plans to appeal the case to the Seoul High Court.

The punishment of Broadcom came after the U.S. firm forced Samsung to sign a long-term agreement in 2020 by taking advantage of its market dominance and using unlawful tactics, including cutting off its supply and technical support, according to the FTC.

Under the deal, Broadcom compelled Samsung Electronics to procure its smartphone parts worth $760 million annually from 2021 to 2023 and required the South Korean tech giant to compensate for any shortfall if the purchasing amount falls below that amount.

In June, the FTC rejected Broadcom’s proposal to voluntarily correct its unfair business practices with 20
billion won, ruling in favor of Samsung.

The regulator earlier said the proposal “fell short as a suitable measure to restore the fair trade order and safeguard the interests of other industry players.”

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Source: Yonhap News Agency

South Korean stocks finished lower Monday, driven by a sharp fall in battery shares, on concerns about the Federal Reserve’s continued monetary tightening path, a U.S. government shutdown and risks in the Chinese property sector. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index shed 12.37 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 2,495.76, extending a losing streak to the third session. Trading volume was moderate at 431.14 million shares worth 7.3 trillion won (US$5.46 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 661 to 223.

The index opened lower and had fallen more than 0.7 percent before erasing some of the losses.

Offshore investors sold a net 133.84 billion won worth of shares, while retail and institutional investors bought a net 48.54 billion won and 70.47 billion won worth of shares, respectively.

The U.S. central bank last week left its benchmark interest rate unchanged but signaled it could hike the borrowing rates again this year to bring inflation under
control.

Investor sentiment was dampened further after U.S. lawmakers warned of a government shutdown on dimming hopes for a compromise to resolve a budgetary standoff.

Eyes were also on the Chinese property market, as the embattled developer Evergrande said it was unable to issue new debt due to an ongoing probe into one of its subsidiaries, which could disrupt its restructuring plans.

“The U.S.’ monetary direction, the potential shutdown and other factors have weighed down the market, particularly as investor sentiment is weak ahead of the extended holiday at home,” Han Ji-young, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities Co., said.

South Korean stock, ETF, derivatives and commodity markets will all be closed during the extended Chuseok holiday starting Thursday through Oct. 3.

Battery shares were among the biggest decliners on the Seoul bourse.

Leading battery maker LG Energy Solution sank 3.05 percent to 476,000 won, and POSCO Holdings dropped 5.27 percent to 539,000 won.

Samsung SDI went down 2.15 percent to
521,000 won, and LG Chem retreated 1.55 percent to 509,000 won.

Top-cap chip shares traded mixed.

Market bellwether Samsung Electronics rose 0.87 percent to 69,400 won on bargain hunting, but chip giant SK hynix lost 0.26 percent to 117,000 won.

Biotech firm Samsung Biologics fell 1.28 percent to 694,000 won, and Celltrion closed flat at 139,300 won.

Major platform operators also lost ground. Internet giant Naver decreased 0.72 percent to 206,500 won, and Kakao, the operator of the popular mobile messenger KakaoTalk, skidded 0.55 percent to 44,800 won.

Carmakers closed higher. Top automaker Hyundai Motor rose 0.73 percent to 192,900 won, and its affiliate Kia surged 2.37 percent to 82,100 won.

Cosmetics rose on expectations for stronger sales in the run-up to the Chinese national day holiday.

Amore Pacific spiked 2.55 percent to 124,900 won, and Kolmar Korea jumped 4.23 percent to 51,700 won.

The local currency ended at 1,336.5 won against the U.S. dollar, up 0.3 won from the previous session’s close.

Bond prices, which move inversely to yields, closed mixed. The yield on three-year Treasurys remained unchanged at 3.876 percent, and the return on the benchmark five-year government bonds added 0.6 basis point to 3.927 percent.

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Source: Yonhap News Agency