Seoul mates: Korean sustainability plays
As the global economy stands at an inflection point, South Korea potentially stands to emerge as a relative winner from deglobalisation. First, Korean firms dominate the global battery supply chain outside of China, with long-term optimism is growing in the industry. Second, South Korea is also an underappreciated nuclear powerhouse, and is now leveraging trade realignments to its advantage, with plenty of room for firms to export their expertise to other markets. Third, Korean firms have quietly become world leaders in desalinisation and water purification tech and are winning contracts that would have otherwise gone to China. For sustainability-minded investors, Korea offers a unique sweet spot: exposure to critical green technologies without the geopolitical baggage of China at reasonable valuations relative to US or European pure-plays in these areas. Their top picks are Samsung E&A, Doosan Enerbility and LG Energy Solution.
Edition: 210
- 02 May, 2025
Industrials
Much deeper automation looks like the only realistic solution to S.Korea’s fertility / working age population crisis - Doosan with its 90.9% stake is aiming to IPO Doosan Robotics in H2 this year, which is expected to be worth 1trn+ KRW, and the spin out will become one of the few global pure-play ‘cobot’ names. The group also fits the energy transition theme - Doosan Enerbility has been busy strengthening its small modular reactor and liquefied hydrogen businesses. Sean Maher replaces THK (+67% since inception; more fully valued) with Doosan in his automation basket (+120%), and once the robotics IPO is complete, Doosan will move into his energy transition basket (+230%).
Edition: 156
- 17 March, 2023