Lax management leaves public firms in deficit
Posted : 2021-05-04 15:24
Updated : 2021-05-04 16:03
State-run rail operator KORAIL was one of the public companies that suffered a net loss in 2020. Korea Times file
By Yi Whan-woo
The country s public enterprises collectively reported a net loss last year, the first since the government began to announce their management data in 2016.
The deficit is attributed to elephantine operations, such as salary increases, among 36 state-run companies in general despite the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis.
According to All Public Information in One (ALIO), a government-affiliated website offering data on the government and public organizations, the 36 firms suffered a combined net loss of 600 billion won ($535.4 million) in 2020.
Mexico’s President Wants to Stop Mining
At least, he has refused to authorize a permit for an extension of 446 hectares (1,102 acres) that El Boleo mining company requested. El Boleo employs 1,283 workers, which means 12 percent of the population of Santa Rosalia in Mulege north of La Paz work for the company. El Boleo is a surface copper-cobalt-zinc-manganese mine established in the 1860’s and currently operated by the Korea Resources Corporation. Its operation includes 3,985 vendors and last year only, it paid $15 million USD in sales taxes. The company has already stated that if the permit is not approved, they will have to shut down the mine this year as it is not productive anymore. Our state government is supporting the mining company. Stay tuned.
POSCO s Argentine lithium lake valuation backfires
Posted : 2021-03-07 15:56
By Nam Hyun-woo
POSCO s self-promotion of its investment into an Argentine lake having lithium reserves appears to be backfiring, as analysts and industry officials have raised doubts about the company s prediction that sales from the project will reach 35 trillion won ($31 billion).
Last week, POSCO said it was expecting a whopping 35 trillion won in value from the lithium reserves in the Hombre Muerto salt lake in Argentina, which the company acquired extraction rights to from Australia s Galaxy Resources for 310 billion won in 2018.
POSCO said that it expects this because it confirmed last year that there were 13.5 million tons of lithium in the lake, a six-fold increase from the 2.2 million tons estimated at the time of the investment, and the sharp hike in lithium prices over the last several months. But the company did not specify how it calculated the 35 trillion won.