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Technology Stocks : Micron Only Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TREND1 who wrote (29095)	2/27/1998 10:23:00 PM
From: Richard Russell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 53903

Seoul group says Korean chipmakers not dumping SEOUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A South Korean semiconductor trade group on Friday dismissed as ''unfounded'' an allegation that the country's chipmakers had begun dumping in world markets in the wake of the won currency's steep depreciation. ''Micron Technology's (MU - news) allegation that South Korea had begun dumping following the won's depreciation is unfounded,'' the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association said in a statement. The association said the statement was released to counter ''a series of moves to consistently distort and criticise'' South Korea's semiconductor industry. ''There may be a misunderstanding that the won's steep depreciation (against the dollar) since late 1997 had significantly improved the export competitiveness of South Korean makers,'' the statement said. But, it said, the won factor was offset because import costs had also increased on imported manufacturing equipment and because financial costs had risen since the country accepted an International Monetary Fund-led bail-out. The won lost more than 50 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar in 1997, on top of an 8.2 percent drop in the previous year. Micron's chief executive officer, Steve Appleton, said in late November the IMF bailout could harm competition in the semiconductor industry. Appleton also said South Korea's over-aggressive expansion of computer chip production was partly to blame for its economic woes and said he feared a bailout would allow Asian makers to dump products on the world market. The South Korean association also said there was no possibility for loans being provided by the IMF bailout package to be used to support investment by specific industries, such as the semiconductor industry, or companies. South Korea accepted a record $58.35 billion bailout arranged by the IMF in early December to overcome a severe foreign currency squeeze. Thirteen donor countries also contributed to the rescue package. ''The purpose of the IMF aid loans is expanding the Bank of Korea's foreign exchange reserves and helping local commercial banks pay back foreign debt,'' the statement said. Commenting on market speculation that Korean chipmakers could trigger a drop in world semiconductor prices, the association said there was no reason why South Korean makers would try to expand their global market share. ''When taking into account the fact Korean makers have more than 30 percent share in the world market for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, there is no reason why (they) want to expand their market share,'' the statement said. ''The biggest victim of the falling market prices should be Korean makers,'' it said. The association also said the South Korean government was not subsidising the local semiconductor industry.