Today's Date: Friday, October 26, 2012

For Coverage: October 25 - 26, 2012

1. ECONOMIC ISSUES

Korean Won – U.S. Dollar Exchange Rate Falls Under 1,100 Level in 13 Months … Market Forecasts Stronger Won in the Coming Year [Korean, OSY]

http://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20121026001016

Summary: The exchange rate of Korea won per U.S. dollar marked 1,098.20 won per dollar in the foreign currency exchange market on October 25. In other words, Korean won gained value against U.S. dollar. Market analysts forecast that continued slow-down of the economy in the U.S. and EU would make Korean won gain further strength in the coming year. For example, HSBC Bank has forecast that Korean won-U.S. dollar exchange rate would fall to 1,080 in 2013 and below 1,000 in 2014.

Won hits a 13-month high against U.S. dollar

http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2961366&cloc=joongangdaily|home|newslist1

Summary: The won hit a 13-month high against the dollar yesterday to breach the 1,100 won mark thanks to increasing dollar sales by exporters and abundant foreign capital inflows.

2. MARKETING ISSUES

Hite-Jinro Strengthens Sparkling Bottled Water Business [Korean, OSY]

http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=103&oid=015&aid=0002774092

Summary: Hite-Jinro Co., a leading Korean processor of alcohol beverages and non-alcohol beverages, announced on October 25 that it had re-launched ‘Diamon’ sparkling water with new design and new ‘chilled filling’ technology. Hite-Jinro stated that it would invest more into the business to become the leading supplier of sparkling water in Korea. The sparkling water market in Korea, which earns about 10 billion won of sales a year, is currently led by imported products, Perrier from France and San Pellegrino from Italy.

The information in this report was compiled by the Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. The press summaries contained herein do NOT reflect USDA, the U.S. Embassy, or other U.S. government agency official policy or view point. U.S. food exporters can learn more about market opportunities in South Korea by reviewing ATO Seoul’s Exporter Guide and other reports available at www.fas.usda.gov by clicking on “attaché reports”.

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