Finance

Four major banks offer financial aid for southern region flood victims, loans up to 500 million won

South Korea’s four major banks are providing emergency financial support for customers affected by heavy rain in the country’s southern region. The banks will offer loans of up to 50 million won for individual customers, with limits varying by bank. They will also provide working capital and facility loans of up to 500 million won for small and medium-sized firms, small merchants and individual business owners, and apply preferential interest rate discounts on working capital loans.

Industry

Global regulation outpaces plant buildout, speeding up Korean anode materials shift

Korean anode materials makers are accelerating plans to localise synthetic graphite as a U.S. route for Chinese graphite shifts from high tariffs to tax credit eligibility requirements. With capacity expansions and long-term supply contracts largely concentrated in 2027, domestic cell makers have limited options to replace Chinese materials before then. Import prices have fallen, but U.S. 45X rules on prohibited foreign entities tighten from 2026.