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With the U.S. dollar stuck below W1,000 since the start of the year, Korean exporters are in a race against time to cut costs. Those with overseas factories are expanding production there to even out the effects of a strong won. LG Chem, the LG Group's chemicals arm, has decided to procure all materials supplied to its PVC plant in Tianjin, China locally and has started to expand production lines for PVC raw material there. "We have decided to reduce raw material or finished products produced in Korea for export to China and thereby minimize the risk from changes in the exchange rate,” a company staffer said.
The nation's biggest automaker Hyundai Motor will in March start producing the upgraded Santa Fe SUV at its Alabama, U.S. factory, which has so far been dedicated to making the Sonata sedan, expanding the plant’s capacity to 270,000 units. The firm also says it needs to produce more overseas to cope with the falling dollar. Renault Samsung has asked Japan’s Nissan to pay it in won instead of dollars for the SM3 model it exports through Nissan's distribution network.
On Tuesday, the dollar fell W6.20 to close at W964.60 Tuesday, the lowest since Nov. 4, 1997, right before the financial crisis, when a dollar bought W961.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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