Lotte Shifts Overseas Business from China to Southeast Asia
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Lotte has shifted the focus of its overseas business operations from China to Southeast Asia after a boycott in the world's most populous country dealt it a devastating blow.
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The Korean-Japanese conglomerate's sales totaled W84 trillion last year, and 10.6 percent was generated by overseas businesses, up 7.6 percent from the year before when the boycott struck (US$1=W1,190).
Now Malaysia ranked at the top and accounted for 30.3 percent of overseas revenues, followed by Indonesia (13.5 percent), the U.S. (nine percent) and China (7.9 percent).
In 2016, China was still the top market, accounting for 25 percent of Lotte's overseas revenues, but they fell from W2 trillion to W700 billion last year.
Instead Malaysia, which is home to Lotte Chemical Titan, accounted for W2.7 trillion worth of revenues, up around W500 billion. Together, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines accounted for 58.4 percent of total overseas revenues.
But Lotte is also expanding its share of advanced markets. Lotte chairman Shin Dong-bin said in a New Year's address to staff this year vowed to "expand markets in advanced countries" while reconsidering the longstanding strategy of focusing on emerging markets.