STX invests $6 mn to build LPG tank terminal in Russia

2018.11.15 12:02:59 | 2018.11.15 16:30:55

[Photo provided by STX Corp.]À̹ÌÁö È®´ë

[Photo provided by STX Corp.]

STX Corp., a South Korean trading company recently sold to Chinese fund AFC Mercury, will invest $6 million to build a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank terminal in Khasan, Primorsky Krai, Russia, where the borders of Russia, China and North Korea converge.

STX said on Wednesday LPG to be stored at the new storage in Russia will be mainly delivered to China and pins high hope on its LPG storage business in the region that lacks LPG storage facilities despite active LPG trading between Russia and China. It hopes the project would help it expand its position in the global trading business.

STX once acted as the de facto holding company for STX Group, which had rapidly grown as a major player in the South Korean shipbuilding and shipping sectors on aggressive mergers and acquisitions. But the group was dismantled after the marine-transport industry had gone through the prolonged slump since late 2000s. STX Group was put under a creditor-led rehabilitation scheme in 2014, and STX completely severed its ties with shipbuilding and shipping affiliates during the restructuring and was reborn as an independent trading company. STX currently holds a 100 percent stake in STX Marine Service and STX Resort.

Since it started anew as a trading company, STX has enjoyed solid growth, reporting an operating profit of 43.5 billion won ($38.4 million) last year on sales of 1.8 trillion won.

Attracted by such a solid performance, China¡¯s AFC Mercury acquired STX at 68.5 billion won in August.

On Thursday, shares of STX rose 1.46 percent to close at 13,900 won in Seoul trading.

By Kang Gye-man and Lee Ha-yeon

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