U.S.-Iran Conflict Intensifies Global Race for LNG Supplies
Escalating U.S.-Iran conflict is tightening LNG supplies, lifting the value of SK's Australian gas field stake as Europe and Asia compete for cargoes.

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Escalating U.S.-Iran conflict is tightening LNG supplies, lifting the value of SK's Australian gas field stake as Europe and Asia compete for cargoes.
SKC will invest about 590 billion won of its 1.1671 trillion won rights offering in glass substrates as SK Group's rebalancing centers on semiconductors.
Buying even a 10% Westinghouse stake would cost KEPCO 4.1 trillion won, as the U.S. says the price is separate from Korea's U.S. investment fund.
Korea and the U.S. are in final talks over a Westinghouse stake below 20%, tied to a $200 billion investment package, with board participation the key…
TSMC will raise monthly 3-nanometer output about 70% to 210,000 wafers by mid-next year, with order visibility already secured through 2030.
China's CXMT posted an 82% operating margin in the second quarter, topping SK hynix at 76% and Samsung Electronics at 70% as DDR5 prices surged.
Polestar's market cap has fallen 95% to $1.3 billion as first-half losses widened, raising going-concern doubts.
Brent crude touched $100.02 a barrel as U.S.-Iran fighting spread, with Bank of America warning prices could reach $150 if the conflict widens.
Korean conglomerates held 325.1 trillion won in cash in the first half but struck no deals above 5 trillion won as global M&A hit $2 trillion.
The KOSPI surged 4.61% to 6,995.39 as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix rallied, with Goldman Sachs maintaining its 12,000-point target.
Korea's top 50 business groups cut 47 board seats ahead of a cumulative voting rule taking effect on the 10th, an analysis of 269 listed firms found.
Four U.S. firms in semiconductors and clean energy will invest $2 billion in Korea, as OpenAI launches its Astra AGI model and brokerages elevate AI units.
The U.S. flagged targeted chip tariffs with relief for companies building fabs at home, as CXMT reached 10% of the global DRAM market.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said he is reviewing a new memory chip plant in Japan and may confirm overseas investment this year, citing a 20-30%…
South Korea's 2027 budget proposal totals 820.9 trillion won as semiconductor-driven tax revenue jumps 194.2 trillion won, raising concerns about…
HBM export prices topped $70 for the first time, reaching $76.13 in July as HBM4 supply ramped up and DRAM prices surged 24.3%.
Business groups want Korea's revised union law to exempt plant investment and staffing from labor disputes, warning new Honam chip fabs may not run.
Samsung Biologics plans a 3 trillion won rights offering to fund its acquisition of Switzerland's PolyPeptide Group, sending its shares down 6.78%.
Nvidia's fiscal 2027 second-quarter revenue rose 106% to $96.22 billion, and CEO Jensen Huang set next year's growth target at 70% amid a memory supply…
Hyundai Motor will launch over 100 new models and add 1.27 million units of capacity by 2030, raising its operating margin target to 9% or more.
Samsung supplies HBM4 and produces Nvidia's Grok3 chip at over 80% yield, marking a turnaround for its loss-making foundry business.
Samsung and SK hynix presented memory bottleneck fixes at Hot Chips 2026, as Samsung's record shareholder return plan pushed its shares down 8.70%.
Nvidia will raise supply prices for its Grace Blackwell 300 and Vera Rubin 200 AI server racks by up to 17% early next year amid surging memory chip…
Samsung Electronics confirmed up to 110 trillion won in shareholder returns, with funds projected to reach 188 trillion won next year on an AI chip boom.
Korea plans more Honam chip fabs while its 2040 power reprojection shows AI-driven demand far exceeding forecasts, and the KOSPI tops 6,800 on SK hynix's…
China has allowed Nvidia H200 imports, with ByteDance and Tencent each securing 10,000 chips, while Samsung and SK hynix shares fell sharply.
The KOSPI hit 7,216 intraday on the 18th but reversed to close at 6,869.83 as U.S. 30-year Treasury yields near 5.32% and rising oil prices weighed.
Korea's $200 billion U.S. investment pledge hits snags before its first project, raising fears of higher tariffs if delayed, amid fiscal warnings and an…
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won signals a U.S. memory fab review and warns of the worst memory supply imbalance next year, citing surging AI-driven demand.
Nine Chinese AI firms released 10 models in 70 days, closing in on U.S.
China's investment in Europe's EV supply chain jumped 2.5-fold to 7.1 billion euros by 2025, with most deals concentrated in Germany, as European…
SK hynix has resumed building its second Dalian fab to lift China NAND output 50%, as AI data centers drive an SSD demand surge and NAND prices climb.
China is raising funds for AI in its $28 trillion capital markets, with CXMT's $9.8 billion listing and state investors propping up the market.
SK hynix labor talks stall over paying bonuses in company stock, raising concerns over HBM4 output as Samsung hits an 80% "golden yield."
SK hynix resolved to invest 54.3 trillion won in its Yongin Y2 and Cheongju M17 chip fabs, accelerating its mega-investment to strengthen DRAM and NAND supply leadership.
Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan warned that socially distributing chip profits from Samsung and SK hynix would cost Korea the semiconductor race, citing China's CXMT investments.
Samsung Electronics unveiled 'zHBM,' the world's first 3D structure stacking HBM on top of a GPU, at FMS 2026, promising up to 8x performance gains over HBM5 for AI chips.
The world's nine largest cloud providers' 2025 capital spending is set to reach $886.7 billion, up 90%, as Microsoft beats expectations while Google and Meta waver.
Samsung Electronics secured the most favorable memory LTA terms, capping price cuts at 5% per quarter with no limit on increases, positioning it for strong H2 earnings.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics fast-tracks its new Philippines MLCC plant to Q1 next year to supply high-capacity AI MLCC for Nvidia's next-generation accelerators, with CAPEX set to double to 6 trillion won.
Elon Musk denies WSJ report that Tesla is weighing a split of its China operations from U.S. business, while China narrows the AI model gap with the U.S. to 2.7%.
Samsung Electronics posted record Q2 operating profit of 89.49 trillion won, surpassing Nvidia and Apple, driven by its HBM4 memory business amid the AI chip super cycle.
China's CXMT soared 465.82% on its Shanghai STAR Market debut, becoming mainland China's top firm by market cap and threatening Samsung and SK hynix in DRAM.
The KOSPI plunged more than 10%, posting a July return of -28.9%, amid three shocks: China's CXMT DUV chip production, FOMC rate hike fears, and Nvidia's rising CDS premium.
China's CXMT topped mainland market cap on its Shanghai debut, surging 465.82%, intensifying its DRAM chase against Samsung and SK hynix as Naver forms a $10 billion AI alliance.
SK hynix emerged as Kioxia's second-largest shareholder after Bain Capital sold most of its stake, while Samsung and SK signed $950 billion in AI chip deals with Big Tech.
AMD CEO Lisa Su says a final HBM4 contract with Samsung Electronics is "almost reached," while President Lee's U.S. visit may bring mega long-term deals with big tech.
Samsung's Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai's Euisun Chung join a global AI advisory board with Jensen Huang and Satya Nadella, as Korea watches U.S. forced-labor tariffs and Samsung Electro-Mechanics wins a 300 billion won order.
Hanwha Ocean supplier Donghwa Entec cut costs up to 6.3 billion won via AI and robots, while Lotte, Hanwha and DL launch an integrated petrochemical entity in Yeosu.
Samsung Electronics launches its Robotics eXperience (RX) Business Division under CEO Roh Tae-moon, integrating hardware, AI, and software to seize the global robot market with S-class talent.