Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Carbon-free stocks enjoy bullish run
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By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
Stocks related to carbon neutrality have been enjoying upward movements in the latter half of the year. EcoProHN, an affiliate of EcoPro Group focusing on developing reduction devices for greenhouse gases as well as chemical filter technology, saw its share price rise by more than 360.64 percent in just a few weeks since the beginning of July.
The increase was the highest among all listed stocks on the main benchmark KOSPI and tech-heavy Kosdaq markets during the period.
Other affiliates of EcoPro Group, such as EcoPro and EcoProBM, also rose by 134.03 percent and 47.71 percent, respectively.
Since its launch in 1998, EcoPro has focused on developing eco-friendly technologies and secondary batteries, becoming a representative company in the ecological chemical materials business. While EcoProHN has expertise in business related to the environmental aspects of the atmosphere, EcoProBM was spun off from the parent company in 2016 to specialize in materials fro cathodes, a key part of secondary batteries.
EcoProBM is also expected to draw additional global passive earnings, as it was recently added to Morgan Stanley Capital International's Korea Index earlier this month, along with SK IET and SK Bioscience.
Other carbon-free stocks witnessed a similar price rise recently. Cosmos Advanced Materials & Technology (Cosmos AM&T), a local manufacturer of secondary battery chemicals, also saw its share price rise 83.12 percent.
Huchems' stock price also rose 13 percent over the past three months, as the company is expected to garner profits for carbon credit trading in the second half of the year. The stock price of Sejong Industrial also increased by 22.4 percent during the past three months, as its filter device for vehicle exhaust fumes has been favorably received by eco-friendly consumers.
Market analysts expect carbon-free stocks could see further rises, as major countries' policies towards zero carbon emissions are becoming tougher amid the heightened calls for tangible environmental results. For example, the EU's “Fit for 55” aims to achieve its target of climate neutrality by 2050, requiring current greenhouse gas emission levels to drop substantially in the next decades. The EU plans to cut emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030. November's U.N. Assembly is also expected to stress the importance of addressing climate change issues head on, facilitating strengthened targets for carbon neutrality.
“The increase of carbon emissions due to climate change will upwardly pressure the price of carbon credit trading,” said Han Dae-hoon, an analyst at SK Securities.
The analyst said the securities firm holds a positive forecast on KraneShares Global Carbon ETF (KRBN), the only available ETF that tracks the IHS Markit Global Carbon Index. The IHS Markit Global Carbon Index tracks the most liquid segment of the tradable carbon credit futures market.