South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate, SK Group, has named its subsidiary SK Gas Co. as the lead company for expanding its hydrogen business. In addition to building plants to produce green hydrogen, it will also develop fuel cells and batteries. According to multiple industry sources, SK Gas is investing several billion U.S. dollars to build a hydrogen production plant and related infrastructure along the southern coast of the Korean city of Ulsan by 2025. The company plans to build facilities and equipment for the entire hydrogen industry value chain. The project generates increased import demand for numerous, industry-relevant products that require KC certification for the Korean market. The plans include importing raw materials, production, storage and distribution. The mammoth project will cost SK Gas several billion U.S. dollars and moves its current main business in natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas significantly in the direction of hydrogen.
South Korea is pinning its hopes largely on hydrogen and its importance to industry, the economy and society as an environmentally friendly energy source and the country’s primary energy, as opposed to nuclear energy and fossil fuels. The government-initiated push for energy transition reached almost all well-known companies in this field such as SK, Hanwha and GS. Industry experts expect SK Gas to build up its hydrogen business from by-products of the chemical industry, at least in the beginning, in order to save costs in investment and production. Only later will the hydrogen also be produced with the help of renewable energy and have a good environmental balance.
SK Advanced, also based in Ulsan, is capable of producing around 30,000 tons of hydrogen annually as a byproduct. SK Gas, South Korea’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas, is also planning a plant to separate hydrogen from natural gas. By reusing and storing the resulting CO₂, the hydrogen can at least be called “blue hydrogen.” The hydrogen produced by SK Gas will be transported via pipelines up to 100 kilometers long to gas generators and fuel cells in other facilities in the Ulsan area.
To distribute the hydrogen, SK Gas is building a hydrogen liquefaction plant that will draw its cooling energy from the natural gas terminal. Through a joint venture with Lotte Chemical, the hydrogen will be sold at gas pumps. To this end, SK Gas plans to build around 100 hydrogen filling stations in South Korea by 2030. It has also entered into a joint venture with Lotte Chemicals to build a fuel cell power plant. A demonstration plant for a hybrid gas turbine powered by hydrogen is to be developed with Korea East-West Power and Doosan Heavy Industries. SK Gas has also established a venture capital company in Silicon Valley to invest in promising start-ups.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. report a 42 percent year-on-year increase in sales of environmentally friendly new cars in their home country of South Korea. Environmentally friendly or green vehicles include electric-drive cars, hybrid vehicles and hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles. The two companies sold a total of 75,336 green vehicles in the period from January to May 2021. Of these, 54,560 were hybrid vehicles, 17,111 were e-cars and 3,665 were hydrogen vehicles. The year-on-year sales figures improved by 35.6; 62.2 and 59.7 percent, respectively. As a result, the market for hybrid vehicles is growing, which also means positive prospects for the Korean automotive industry. Growing production figures also mean increased imports and demand for various automotive parts and components, many of which are subject to mandatory KC certification.
Automotive industry observers made a connection between the increase in eco-car sales and the availability of chips and semiconductors. A senior executive said hybrid and e-cars require more semiconductors than conventional internal combustion vehicles. As a result, a shortage of semiconductors and electronic components recently led to frequent production stoppages and declines in hybrid car sales at Hyundai Motor again. In May, these surprisingly fell 24.8 percent year-on-year to 4,095 vehicles. As soon as the situation on the chip and semiconductor market improves again, experts expect a further rapid increase in car sales figures.
Is your company active in the automotive industry and has business relations with South Korea or plans to do so? Many products that are imported into South Korea have to be tested and certified in advance. MPR International GmbH recommends itself as a partner for your Korea certification. We gladly check for you without obligation whether your products are subject to certification and prepare an attractive offer for you.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
Several Korean companies are entering wind power generation to take advantage of this global growth trend. POSCO Group plans to collaborate with Denmark’s Orsted, the world’s largest offshore wind energy producer. Orsted wants to build a 1.6 GW offshore wind power plant in Incheon, South Korea. POSCO Group is the local partner for this project. The project cost is expected to be $6.9 billion, with completion scheduled for 2026. Wind turbines are complex plants where numerous technical components and parts require KC certification (Korea Certification) to be imported, built and operated in Korea.
Hanwha Solutions is planning to build a plant to generate green hydrogen from wind energy in Gangwon Province. Subsidiary company Hanwha Q CELLS, responsible for the renewable energy business, is also expanding its wind energy resources and plans to participate in a 40 MW wind farm, also in Gangwon Province. In this, Hanwha Q CELLS is acting as an engineering and construction company. Another company, Hyosung Heavy Industries has formed a joint venture with China’s Goldwind and is planning an 8 MW wind farm.
Hyundai Heavy Industries is participating in the construction of a demonstration plant for the production of green hydrogen from offshore wind turbines. The plant’s capacity is expected to be 100 MW, with commissioning targeted for 2025. The company is developing a large-scale plant for the production of hydrogen from seawater and electricity from wind power at the Ulsan Floating Wind Farm. In a second phase of the project, another green hydrogen plant with 1.2 GW capacity will be built, in which Hyundai Heavy Industries is also involved. This is scheduled to begin operation in 2030.
In addition to hydrogen and wind power generation, Korean shipbuilders are also benefiting from the growth of offshore wind. As part of this, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has developed a vessel for wind turbine installation that is based on environmentally friendly propulsion technology. SHI announced on May 8 that its SLW-FUEL CELL ship model concept has been classified as environmentally friendly in terms of low CO2 emissions by the world’s three leading ship classification organizations, ABS (USA), DNV (Norway) and LR (UK).
South Korea is considered one of the most important and innovative industrial nations in the world. In order to gain market access to this highly technological country, products imported into South Korea must be tested and certified. The KC mark or KC certificate is roughly equivalent to the European CE mark and applies to 730 different products. MPR International GmbH has solid experience in Korea certification and competent local partners. We gladly advise you without obligation about the scope and procedure of a Korea certification.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
A so-called supercycle for global memory chip availability, combining price increases and supply shortages, will continue through 2023. As a result, the world’s largest memory chip makers, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, expect record profits over the next two years. In their latest report, market watchers IC Insights expect global memory chip sales to rise 23 percent this year to $155.2 billion. Next year, the analysts expect a 16 percent increase to $180.4 billion, with a further 23 percent growth forecast for 2023 to a total of $219.6 billion. Memory chips, like many other electronic components, are among the products that potentially need to be KC certified in order to be imported and distributed in Korea.
The previous highs for memory chip sales of $163.3 billion came in 2018, when there was already a so-called memory supercycle. At that time, companies benefited from rising prices due to higher demand. A year later, however, the market collapsed with a 32 percent decline to $110.4 billion, ushering in a downward trend.
This year, due to rising demand from IT products, expansion of cloud data centers and the rapidly recovering global economy, demand for DRAM memory and flash memory has skyrocketed, drawing global supply concerns. According to IC Insights, DRAM memory accounts for 56 percent of the total memory market, while flash memory is at 41 percent. Due to the high global demand, analysts upgraded the profit forecasts of Korean chip giants Samsung Electronics and SK hynix for this year.
Samsung is the world’s largest DRAM chipmaker with 42 percent market share, followed by SK hynix with 29 percent. Samsung is also number one in flash memory chips, with 32 percent market share. SK Hynix, whose market share for flash memory was 9.9 percent in 2019, could move to second place after the completed purchase of Intel’s flash memory division and have about 20 percent market share.
South Korea is considered one of the most important and innovative industrialized nations in the world. Many products imported to South Korea have to be tested and certified in advance. MPR International GmbH recommends itself as a partner for your Korea certification. We gladly check for you without obligation if your products are subject to certification and create an attractive offer for you.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
The number of new Tesla vehicles registered in Korea reached 3,461 units in May. Of these, 3,328 were Tesla’s Model Y, which took the top spot for imported vehicles for the first time. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class landed in second place with 2,387 vehicles sold in May. The vehicles compete for the Korean automotive market, for which KC certification may be required for many components. This serves to establish conformity with Korean K standards.
A total of 7,690 Mercedes-Benz cars were newly registered in South Korea in May. This means that the German luxury-class manufacturer retained first place for the fifth month in a row. BMW (6,257), Volkswagen (1,358), Volvo (1,264), Jeep (1,110), Mini (1,095), Lexus (1,007), Porsche (847) and Ford (655) are in the other places.
The number of registered vehicles, excluding Tesla, increased 3.5 percent from the same month last year to a total of 24,080 in May. A sum of 121,566 new vehicles were registered in the first five months of 2021, an increase of 20.5 percent from the same period last year.
In another press release from Business Korea, a survey identified the most popular brands for vehicles imported into South Korea. The survey, conducted by Business Korea and the Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute, looked at the reputations of 25 car brands that import vehicles into South Korea. Rankings were compiled via analysis of Big Data records within a month totaling some 33 million entries. In the month of July, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi took the top three spots, followed by Chevrolet, Porsche and Volkswagen. At the bottom of the popularity scale were Chrysler, Nissan and Mini. A study leader said the ranking is related to the brands’ reputations and the behavior of domestic consumers. Among other factors, the ranking takes into account how often Internet users mention the brands and how many articles or posts have been created about them.
Is your company active in the automotive industry and has business relations with South Korea or plans to do so? Many products that are imported into South Korea have to be tested and certified in advance. MPR International GmbH recommends itself as a partner for your Korea certification. We gladly check for you without obligation whether your products are subject to certification and prepare an attractive offer for you.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
South Korea’s Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction (DHIC) is accelerating the development of environmentally friendly gas turbines that run on hydrogen. DHIC announced June 3 that it has signed an agreement with three partners to promote hydrogen turbine demonstration plants. In addition to Doosan, the parties are the Ulsan Municipal Government, Korea East-West Power and SK Gas. They will work together on a project to convert existing gas turbines at the Ulsan Combined Thermal Power Plant into hydrogen-fueled turbines.
The conversion and operation will require increased importation of relevant components and machinery, which may generally fall under the certification requirement for KC Mark certification or KC EMC certification in Korea. When completed, the plant will have a capacity of 270 MW, with commissioning planned for 2027. The gas turbines in Ulsan have been in operation for more than 25 years. The planned project is considered the first of its kind in Korea.
A day earlier, on June 2, DHIC signed an agreement with Korea Midland Power. Content of the agreement is the support of Korea Midland Power’s climate goals to be CO2 neutral by 2050 as well as to build up a domestic industry for hydrogen gas turbines. Korea Midland Power would like to use DHIC’s hybrid burner systems and hydrogen gas turbines, which the company has developed with the help of the government. In return, DHIC will develop the relevant technology for the turbines and prepare for series production of the parts.
Power plants that use hydrogen as fuel emit fewer pollutants than conventional plants that run on natural gas. The Korean Institute of Machinery and Materials calculated that if 30 percent of all power plants currently fueled by natural gas used hydrogen, CO2 emissions could be reduced by 10.4 percent. The institute also pointed out that no CO₂ is produced when hydrogen is burned. Industry experts predict the hydrogen gas turbine market will grow to as much as $35 billion by 2030.
DHIC has become the fifth company in the world to develop its own large-scale gas turbine power generation plants since 2019. It has also been working on hydrogen gas turbines since May 2020. The company participated in a nationwide project with the Korean Institute of Machinery and Materials to develop a high-efficiency hydrogen hybrid gas burner for power plants. Hybrid in this case stands for the use of different gases as fuel for the gas turbines or power plants.
South Korea is considered one of the most important and innovative industrial nations in the world. In order to gain market access to this highly technological country, products imported into South Korea must be tested and certified. The KC mark or KC certificate is roughly equivalent to the European CE mark and applies to 730 different products. MPR International GmbH has solid experience in Korea certification and competent local partners. We gladly advise you without obligation about the scope and procedure of a Korea certification.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held in Gwangyang, Jeonnam Province, for the first lithium production facility in South Korea. For Posco, this step is another milestone in creating its own supply chain for batteries manufactured in South Korea, having already completed a factory for the production of cathodes, also in Gwangyang. To ensure the importation into Korea, electric vehicle components, which include batteries, among others, must undergo certification for the KC mark or KC certificate.
Korean steel giant Posco said at the groundbreaking ceremony in late May that the factory will be able to produce about 43,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide annually at full capacity, a key raw material for making vehicle batteries. The company is investing $680.4 million to build the lithium plant, which covers 19 hectares and is located within the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Gwangyang, 418 km south of Seoul. Construction is scheduled to end in 2023. Posco said the amount of lithium that will be produced annually at the new factory is enough for the main drive batteries of about 1 million electric cars.
When completed, the factory will be the first lithium production facility in South Korea and will play an important role in making the country independent of lithium imports, which currently stand at 100 percent. The lithium hydroxide produced in the future will be an important core material for the cathodes of vehicle batteries with a nickel content of 80 percent or higher. The industry has recently become aware of the new material, which, compared to the current lithium carbonate, can significantly increase battery capacity and thus the range of electric cars.
Plans for the lithium plant in Gwangyang were approved by the supervisory board in April, and a new company called Posco Lithium Solutions was established. This is to operate the new plant and extract lithium hydroxide from ores supplied by a partner in Pilbara, Western Australia.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time. Our experts are always available to answer any questions without obligation.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
Lotte Group has decided to enter hydrogen production as a new business line and growth market. At the same time, this is expected to benefit the Group’s sustainability goals. Lotte plans to import hydrogen in the form of ammonia from overseas and distribute it in Korea. The company also plans to supply hydrogen produced as a byproduct in petrochemical processes to gas stations. Lotte Precision Chemical, a subsidiary of Lotte Chemical, will import the sustainably produced ammonia from overseas and produce hydrogen from it for sale in Korea, said a senior Lotte Group executive. Importation of such chemicals and their containers often requires prior KC certification.
Ammonia has the chemical formula NH3 and a large amount of hydrogen (H) can be produced by splitting off the nitrogen (N). From its existing ammonia business, Lotte Precision Chemicals was able to generate sales of about $370 million, or 30 percent of total sales, last year in 2020. Ammonia as a feedstock for hydrogen production is particularly popular because of its ease of transportation. Unlike liquid hydrogen, which must be cooled at minus 253 degrees during transport, minus 33 degrees is already sufficient for ammonia. In addition, the density of ammonia is 1.5 times higher than that of hydrogen, which saves further transport costs.
For the new line of business, Lotte is working with South Korean energy companies to sell the hydrogen at filling stations. Plans call for selling the approximately 10,000 metric tons per year of hydrogen produced as a byproduct at Lotte’s Seosan Daesan plant as fuel in the nearby metropolitan area. Lotte also plans to add more hydrogen liquefaction plants at its facilities in Korea and overseas, as well as expand capacity at the Daesan plant.
South Korea is considered one of the most important and innovative industrial nations in the world. To gain market access to this highly technological country, products imported into South Korea must be tested and certified. The KC mark or KC certificate is roughly equivalent to the European CE mark and applies to 730 different products. MPR International GmbH has solid experience in Korea certification and competent local partners. We will be pleased to advise you without obligation about the scope and procedure of a Korea certification.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
Hyundai Motor Group has disclosed some of its specifications for semiconductors and computer chips and shared them with Korean chipmakers. Analysts believe that Hyundai is taking this step to make itself less dependent on foreign chipmakers or suppliers. In addition, the company hopes to eliminate the current supply problems of computer chips by cooperating with Korean chip manufacturers. The distribution of microchips, and for other electronics, is regulated by KC certifications (Korea Certification) in South Korea, with the purpose to ensure the quality and safety of products.
Hyundai Motor Co. and Hyundai Mobis subsidiaries had recently shared some specifications for auto chips and semiconductors with potential South Korean manufacturers. The eight types disclosed include analog semiconductors including microcontroller controllers (MCUs), ICs for screen controls and power management ICs (PMICs). For the MCUs, it is known that they are 32-bit chips based on a 65 nm process.
Currently, Hyundai imports the vast majority of its chips and semiconductors from abroad. Suppliers include Infineon from Germany, ST Microelectronics from Switzerland, NXP from the Netherlands, and Texas Instruments from the United States.
South Korea is considered one of the most important and innovative industrial nations in the world. Many products imported to South Korea have to be tested and certified in advance. MPR International GmbH recommends itself as a partner for your Korea certification. We will be pleased to check for you, without obligation, whether your products are subject to certification and to prepare an attractive offer for you.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KCC certification, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.
At the beginning of June, the Korea Times had published a corresponding report based on information from the industry. According to the report, Hanwa Group is planning to enter the manufacturing of machinery for the production of computer chips and other semiconductors. The company wants to expand its business model and hopes for synergy effects from its existing production of materials for the manufacture of chips. The focus of the new business unit is to be the production of machines and equipment for coating. In the production of chips, the so-called silicon wafers are coated with an extremely thin layer of certain chemical elements.
Hanwa Corporation is already involved in the production of machines for other industries and hopes to attract more customers with the planned division. Another Hanwa division operating worldwide in the chemical sector produces nitric acid. This is considered a core ingredient in the process of chip coating and wet cleaning. A Hanwa spokesman recently confirmed that the company plans to enter the chip machine business. However, a final decision has yet to be made.
Industry experts see Hanwa’s entry as a good opportunity to advance the company’s growth. Companies around the world are investing in expanding their production capacity due to the shortage of computer chips. Companies from Japan and the U.S. are leading the way in coating machines for semiconductors. According to the Korean Institute of Industrial Trade and Economics (KIET), Japan’s Tokyo Electron and the US’ Applied Materials and Lam Research have a 70 percent market share. In South Korea, medium-sized companies such as Jusung Engineering, Wonik IPS, Eugene Techonology and Tes produce machines for coating chips. KIET estimates that the production competence of Korean companies in this area is 90 percent compared to the market leaders.
South Korea is considered one of the most important and innovative industrial nations in the world. Many products imported to South Korea have to be tested and certified in advance. Many products, such as computer chips, semiconductors and manufacturing equipment, imported into South Korea must be pre-tested and possibly certified with the KC Mark. Korea certification is one of the biggest barriers to entry for products to be imported into Korea.
If you need assistance or have any questions regarding Korean certifications like KC, KC EMC, KCs or KCs for explosion safety products, feel free to contact us any time.
Tel.: +49-69-2713769259
Email: info@korea-certification.com
Urgent questions?
Please do not hesitate to contact us via chat. You will find the chat window at the bottom right of each page (if this is not visible, please check your browser settings).
For more information you can download our free brochure “Korea Certification Made Easy – The Booklet“.